For Every Friend
by Nagumo
Summary: Hida Iori has been called many things in his life. Teacher's pet, demon, friend, enemy, son, etc. His life was simply the action of living until the chance meeting of a certain Inoue Miyako who drives him up the walls. Please Read and Review.
1. Down the Lane

It all started on a midnight dreary...  
While the author sat weak and weary....  
Okay that's a lie but who cares. A pre 02 fic. Focuses on Iori mostly and some Miyako with a small dash of Daisuke and Hikari added in.

Song - Sobakasu from Rurouni Kenshin 1st season beginning song. Translation:

**__**

I touched those hated freckles lightly and sighed,  
My "heavy class" love has dissolved clearly  
Just like a sugarcube.  
The thorn stuck in my thin breast went in further  
And hurt much more than before.  
Astrology didn't predict that at all.

A AU fanfic involving Iori quite a bit. He's slightly different from the TV shows Iori. Remember this is a an AU fanfic (alternate universe) so some things are different! Please note that! I do not want to be chewed out by people for having the characters and events slight OOC.

Inoue Momoe - oldest sister of Miyako. Age 17 in 02.  
Inoue Chizuru - older sister of Miyako. Age 14 in 02.  
Inoue Mantarou - oldest brother of Miyako. Age 20 in 02.

Honor and duty. Those twin words were the first thing Iori could remember from his father.

Law and order. The second set of words that Iori could remember from his father.

The clean pressed police uniform and officer badge, the oiled kendo shinai and dojo, his mother and grandfather. Memories of a past and a constant of the present. Iori sat down in front of the family shrine and burnt a single stick of incense in honor of his father. The man, who fell in the name of duty, honor, law and order. A man that Iori began to realize that he never quite knows nor understand. The incense's sweet aroma began to rise into the air and Iori stared at the red-hot ember that made a downward descent of the incense stick. It devoured the incense and left ashes in its wake.

"Iori..." Iori's grandfather at the low table said in a soft voice. He watched his grandson kneeling in front of the shrine in silence. How small Iori looked in front of the expansive hard oak shrine that housed but a picture of his son and wife. Iori sat neither listening to his grandfather or his own confused heart.

'Law must be kept, order must be kept, duty must be kept and honor must be kept at all cost... A lack of any of these four things will cause chaos,' Iori recited to himself over and over again like a mantra. He wasn't quite sure where he heard them but it made sense. If the law is broken, order is broken thus allowing chaos. To rectify the chaos it is in the duty of all to bring the law on the perpetrator without remorse and without clemency. It is honorable to pursue this duty and bring law and order back to chaos. In Iori's mind was an uncluttered affair, there was only black and white, no gray in between. Good and evil, law and chaos, order and anarchy. The choices were so simple that it often galled him or made him lose sight of everything. The key to it all was control. Control over emotion and control over what Iori could influence.

"Iori," the old grandfather said in a voice that was much louder. Iori's thoughts were broken and he turned his head around to look at his grandfather. His green eyes rested on the wrinkled old man and waited for what he had to say.

"Yes grandfather?" Iori asked in a respectful voice. Control over himself was all that he had to be proud of. No tears of the heartache he felt and courtesy to all, regardless if they deserved it not. Iori could feel his grandfather probe him with inquisitive eyes, trying to break the shield erected and coax the uncontrolled emotional side of him but he would never let that happen.

"Why don't you play outside Iori? Maybe with some friends perhaps?" Iori's grandfather asked.

Iori managed to prevent himself from flinching at the word friends. What friends? Who would make friends with the sombre looking boy whose green eyes kept on telling people. You can't sway me from the path I have chosen? He had no friends of his age. He didn't have anyone in his entire class that would talk to him, let alone acknowledge his existence. Iori turned away from his grandfather and stared at the shrine in front of him. He stared hard at the picture of his father in full police uniform smiling so happily. It was a picture full of life and expectation for the future. It was hateful picture to Iori because the man it showed was dead, buried and gone. Iori expression did not change but his heart was like a hole that could not be filled.

'If you saw me today, would you be proud father?' Iori asked to the picture. He looked down and looked at the dying embers of the incense stick, which was almost completely gone. The last few curls of smoke disappeared into the air.

"Iori?"

"... You are right grandfather. I should go outside and play," Iori answered. He turned around and got up from his sitting position. Iori's grandfather helplessly looked at his grandson as he got up and left the apartment.

*****

Iori prided himself to be a level headed and intelligent boy, especially compared to others his age, but right now he felt like a complete idiot. Here he sat on a bench close by a playground watching other play and laugh. Fellow children his age who were 'supposed' to be his 'equals'. Somehow that just didn't make sense to him, these laughing children who had no idea or thoughts outside of play, going to school and other such mundane things.

Iori recognized a few of the playing children to be his fellow classmates but they didn't bother coming to him. Instead they took a quick peek and then huddled into their little circle. They seemed baffled as to why he was there at the playground and were quite possibly mocking him. Then again what did it matter? Who needed friends? He was above them and their rabble. His 'equals' indeed.

Iori humphed and crossed his arms. There was a little part in him though that really wished that he could approach those children and play with him but the stubbornness of his innate pride refused to acknowledge it. He was 'above' them and he quite frankly could probably kick their asses any time of the day. They were all pitiful fighters against him and they all knew it. They had no knowledge of the fighting arts whereas Iori was quickly becoming a master of his own. In a few years not even his grandfather would not be able to defeat him in kendo.

Iori allowed a small smile with such pleasing thoughts and looked up into the sky for a brief moment. The blue sky had turned a pale rose tinted spectacle. It was going to be dark soon but what did it matter if he went home now? His mother would be out working late and his grandfather probably went to the dojo to teach for the six thirty kendo class. Then again, he shouldn't cause so much unnecessary grief or worry for his mother and grandfather, after all they were all that he had left in the terms of family. Iori sighed and started to get up from the bench but all of a sudden he was hit on the head with a rock. He felt a sharp pain for a second and then it resided for moment before surging forth as a dull throbbing pain. Iori blinked in surprise and looked around to see who had thrown the rock. It did not take long before Iori's rested his eyes on three fellow classmates of his that were snickering. Their eyes were gleaming with malevolent joy.

"Got him right on the head!" Kanma, the tallest boy smirked. He stood a good seven inches over Iori but that did not faze Iori or inspire any fear. Iori knew all to well that Kanma was a complete coward without his cohorts with him. Speaking of which the two with Kanma were Gunro and Wakabe, two somewhat fat boys who happened use their weight to their advantage and literally sit on poor saps that Kanma happened to dislike at the moment. It seemed that the sadistic Kanma seemed to have taken a disliking to Iori but that hardly mattered. The feeling was mutual and right now Iori had no desire to deal with the situation. He was going home and that was that. He would get back at Kanma on another day.

Shrugging, Iori simply turned his back on Kanma and walked away without looking over his shoulder. They were beneath his notice and if they decided to pursue the matter Iori would simply end it. Iori put his hand on the spot where the rock hit and came to see that he was bleeding slightly. Stopping for a moment Iori reached into his pocket to take out a handkerchief to staunch the wound.

"Well look at the Gunro! Shorty's running back to his mother. Wonder what he's going to do? Cry to his dead daddy to arrest us?" Kanma said out loud. Enough for everyone in the playground to hear. Iori ignored it; revenge came to those who wait. Like wine, revenge becomes all the more sweeter from the wait. Iori wasn't sure where he heard that analogy when it came to revenge before but it made sense. There would be a day when Kanma would regret the day of making fun of him and Iori would give him no tender mercies. Kanma was unjust and therefore must be punished. The punishment would fit the crime, Iori would make sure of it.

"Hey leave him alone!" A voice shouted at the trio of bullies. It was a girl's voice and Iori turned around to see who was defending him. He soon came upon the sight of a tall geeky looking girl with rather round glasses. She had purple hair, which boggled Iori's mind, and was glaring at the three boys. She towered over them and was looking down as if they were mere insects to her. Kanma looked rather annoyed and looked the tall girl over him.

"Whose asking you freak?" Kanma said in a shaky but arrogant voice. The purple-headed girl could only smile ever so slightly in an evil way.

"The freak that can kick your ass around and dump you into a garbage can, shorty," she answered back. Kanma could only back off a bit and glare at her.

"Well me and my boys can lay the smack down on you if you try anything," Kanma spat out. He looked around to see if there was anyone watching him and his friends. In the corner of his eye he could see in the distance a tall glass-wearing boy with dyed blonde hair walk towards them.

"Miyako! What the hell are you doing over there?" The boy shouted at his purple-haired younger sister. He arrived by her side and growled at her.

"Meet my older brother Mantarou... And if he's not enough, I'll get my two older sisters to help me stuff you down a trashcan... So shall we do the smack down?" Miyako asked. Mantarou frowned and then looked at his youngest sister.

"Hey... If I help you in any way, you're going to have to give me your desserts for the next two days," Mantarou demanded smirking.

"What?! How about one day and I'll clean the dishes after dinner?" Miyako wheedled; she ignored Kanma and his boys completely. That upset Kanma as the center of attention was no longer on him but on the two wrangling siblings. Iori just felt very confused and wondered why the strange girl would bother coming to his assistance. No one in the world had ever bothered helping him in any way. It must be a freak coincidence that the girl bothered to stand up for him and was not going to happen any time in the near future again.

"What's going on here?" Another girl with glasses approached with another girl in glasses. 

"Chizuru! Momoe! Mantarou is being a meany! He won't help me unless I give him my dessert!" Miyako whined a bit. The darker haired and taller girl frowned and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose a bit more.

"What is this all about?" Momoe asked wearily eyeing the Miyako and the group of boys. Iori started to walk away hoping that the strange purple haired girl would not notice him sneaking out.

"This hasn't got anything to do with you," Kanma barked at them, he tried to make a firm image but Iori knew it was just an illusion ready to crumble.

"Oh and why not?" Miyako asked, she then noticed the little boy she was trying to help walking away from the scene.

"Hey where do you think you're going? I'm trying to help you!" Miyako shouted after Iori. She approached Iori, ignoring Kanma who was venomously glaring at her.

Iori was apparently unsuccessful in his attempt to leave without notice. Odd, usually people ignored him but this girl noticed. He sighed and stayed standing where he was with the handkerchief still on his forehead to stop the bleeding. Chizuru noticed Iori and his bleeding wound that was reddening his handkerchief as Miyako arrived at his side.

"Oh I see now," Chizuru said, her eyes narrowed on the three bullies. Mantarou could only sigh and give up against trying to get his sister into giving up her dessert.

"I believe you should leave," Mantarou said in a low voice. Kanma buckled with his two lackeys, Gunro and Wakabe.

"Fine but don't think this is over," Kanma proclaimed and arrogantly strolled away with his two lackeys. He deliberately passed Miyako and Iori, then stopped for brief moment to give them a cold stare. Gunro and Wakabe also stopped, nervous and unsure what they're leader was going to do. Iori could only levelly look back at Kanma with his green eyes and stare him down. Miyako had to admit watching the short boy stare placidly back at the other taller boy was rather unnerving. The green eyes seemed so empty and void of emotion, Kanma broke off his glaring and then went at Miyako.

"I'm not forgetting about you any time soon either," Kanma said in a low voice. He then spat in Miyako's face, hitting her square in the nose and ran off as quickly as possible. Miyako's siblings saw what happened and ran after Kanma and his two friends.

"Ah!" Miyako cried out and used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe off the spittle on her face.

"Come back here you little punks!" Momoe shouted after the three that split up at an intersection across the street from the playground. The three stopped at the outer edges of the playground since they couldn't leave Miyako behind.

Miyako finally stopped rubbing the spit off her face and grimaced with disgust. Iori could only look at her wondering why she even bothered helping him. No one had ever helped him for any reason except that they were expected to or that they were 'ordered' to.

"Are you all right, Miss?" Iori asked politely. His family had taught to him to be polite to everyone. She was older than him by a few years and thus he accorded her respect she deserved. Yet there was something about this girl that made him feel uncomfortable and at the same time warm.

"Yeah, I'm fine but man that was disgusting. Now are you all right? You're not hurt are you?" Miyako immediately asked. She tried to get a closer look at Iori's wound. Iori pulled back a bit to avoid her hands. His wound had dried up and left an ugly scab.

"I am fine, Miss. I just need to go home, thank you for your concern," Iori said politely. There all the niceties were done with and he could now leave. Miyako had other ideas though in her brain.

"Stop calling me 'Miss'. My name's Inoue Miyako and I'm not letting you walk home by yourself. What if those bullies come after you again?" Miyako asked. She was concerned and Iori stopped for a moment trying to find a reason not to have her walk home together.

"Miyako! You owe me your desserts for two days and you have to do the dishes!" Mantarou said as he arrived by Iori's vicinity. Momoe and Chizuru smiled and nodded while Miyako looked shocked.

"What?! We didn't have that deal you jerk!" Miyako screeched. She liked her desserts and she was damned if she'd let them fall into the greedy hands of her older siblings.

"Well, we decided to do something for you, so now you have to pay up squirt," Momoe stated simply.

"It's only fair," Chizuru added while Miyako just pouted.

"Whatever! Anyways we're walking home together with this little guy here," Miyako said maternally. She patted Iori on the head but he simply just frowned.

"I do not require any sort of assistance in returning home to my apartment," Iori politely stated. Miyako however couldn't pick up on the subtle hint; she was simply a whirlwind of activity now and was wildly doing physical actions to demonstrate her point.

"Well as I said I'm worried those guys might beat you up! If they get anywhere close to you I'll pound that jerk's face in for spitting in my face," Miyako stated, she punched into the air doing an exaggerated karate chop. Iori could only sigh in suffering and then walked off. He knew it was rude and such but still, something told him the girl was going to be... disruptive to his status quo if he stood around any longer.

"Right! We're off!" Miyako announced and began walking after Iori. The other three older siblings of Miyako simply rolled their eyes and followed as well. The whole point of Iori walking off was to give another hint that he did not want company but now it seemed that subtle hints just didn't work on this girl when she was worked up. She was now in fact asking a multitude of questions he found annoying but had to socially answer them for her.

"So what's your name?" Miyako asked.

"My name is Hida Iori, Miyako-sempai," Iori answered. He resisted the urge to sigh and stopped at a red light.

"Just call me Miyako, Iori-kun," Miyako stated with a smile. The little boy, Iori, was so unusually polite and quiet. No wonder those bullies were picking on him like that. The three Inoue siblings behind the two younger children were chatting, ignoring the two. Miyako felt a bit awkward since it was becoming obvious that Iori wasn't going to start a conversation with her. Likewise Iori felt awkward around Miyako.

"So what school do you go to?" Miyako asked enthusiastically. She was curious about this boy, she could have sworn that she had seen him before. He was always passing her family store at the ground level of the apartment building she lived in but had never gone in when she was tending the store.

"I go to Odaiba elementary," Iori answered but inwardly he really wished she would stop. Iori wasn't a very social able person; he had to admit that he was actual almost sort of like recluse when it came to dealing with people. He didn't bother them and they didn't him, it was good arrangement but apparently there were people like Miyako out there in the world.

"Really? That's the school I go to as well! I'm in grade 5!" Miyako said. She talked and talked and talked, to the point that Iori wondered how she could keep breathing with the relatively short breaks of conversation she had. She was a random element that he couldn't eliminate or control, that irked him. Yet it made infinitely interesting at the same time.

"So I say to Daisuke, 'no way', and then..." Miyako blathered until finally, and none to early, arrived at the apartment building he lived in. Iori felt awkward around this girl and hastened to take leave of her presence. Yet he found her presence very comforting. It was an oxymoron of feelings. Then again how could someone talk so much in less then ten minutes? It boggled his mind and left him begging for blessed silence.

"Miyako will you just shut up," Momoe said irritably. Chizuru and Mantarou could only nod in agreement while Miyako glared.

"You're contributing to the world's noise pollution level sis," Chizuru added. That made Miyako blow her top off.

"How can you say that?! It's not as if Iori-kun is complaining about it!" Miyako said explosively. Iori felt uncomfortable and decided now was a good time to leave Miyako and her siblings presence.

"This is my apartment building, Miyako-sem... I mean Miyako-san," Iori finally spoke. Miyako blinked and then looked around while her to see where she was.

"Oh... We're home, I didn't notice," Miyako commented lightly. Iori stiffened and went through his memory on Miyako's one-sided conversation that happened during the walk to his apartment. He was quite sure that she mentioned something about living in the same apartment complex as him or something. He wasn't paying attention to her and tuned her out wishing that his embarrassment that he felt around her would go away.

"You ... live here?" Iori asked. He was still polite but Miyako really upset him. She was a random element in an orderly little world. She was talkative and loud, those were just annoyances. It was her tendency to be completely unpredictable that seemed to be particularly grating to Iori though. One moment she was talking about school, then ice cream, then how there weren't enough cute boys in the world and the finally about what her friend Daisuke did while playing football inside one of the classroom. Could someone please tell him why there were some idiots out there in the world who played football inside one of the classroom? Last time Iori checked football was an outdoor game that required more than one player. In spite of the randomness of her personality Iori found himself enjoying her presence though he said absolutely nothing.

"Yeah! I live on the eighth floor," Miyako said ignoring her brother and sisters. 

"The eighth floor?" Iori deadpanned. Miyako blinked and looked at Iori and nodded.

".... The eighth floor..." Iori said to no one in particular and let that piece of information slide down into his brain. Miyako lived on the same floor as he did, that caused him to mentally shudder. He did not want to be anywhere near this confusing and flighty girl. She was making him feel uncomfortable on so many levels it wasn't funny.

"Hey squirt! Let's move shall we?" Mantarou said exasperated. Miyako gave her brother a dirty look before walking into the apartment to the elevators. Iori found himself reluctantly following the group and waited for the elevator to come down. He was so close to his apartment that he could practically taste the microwave food sitting in his refrigerator's freezer. He knew his mother and grandfather wasn't home at this time. After all, rent and food had to be bought for the family now since his father was dead. Work on all the weekdays and exhaustion and relaxation on weekends.

"So Iori-kun what stuff do you like doing?" Miyako asked. She smiled at Iori and that caused him to blink. No one ever bothered talking to him and such, yet this girl insisted on talking to him. What part of subtle hint did she not get? All he did when she was busy talking was nod his head and make a non-committal sound every now and then to keep her satisfied and be marginally polite. He wanted to say something but ended freezing up and wishing that he could hide in his apartment. The elevator came down and opened to let passengers in. Chizuru pressed the button for the eighth floor for all of them.

"... I do kendo," Iori answered tersely. He wished the elevator would go up faster so he could leave Miyako's presence. Why did she keep smiling at him? No one ever smiled at him like the way she was, except possibly his mother but that was rare. It made him uncomfortable and even more awkward around her.

"Wow, so you're like a mini-Kenshin," Miyako said. Iori however did not know what Miyako was talking about. He had never watched all too many 'animes' and was therefore unfamiliar with the comparison Miyako was making.

"A mini-who?" Iori asked baffled. The elevator stopped and let the passengers off on the eighth floor. They began walking down the hallway to their respective apartments.

"Kenshin! You never seen the show have you? That's terrible, you should see it sometimes! Its on channel 29 at 7:30," Miyako answered. Iori finally stopped by his apartment door and got out his key.

"Well this is where I live. Thank you for accompanying me," Iori said politely. He bowed to Inoue siblings and made himself straight again. Mantarou, Chizuru and Momoe nodded back while Miyako looked at Iori's apartment door.

"Hey! What do you know? We're neighbours and all this time I've never known," Miyako stated idly. Iori froze and blinked. An ache erupted in his chest, crept up his spine and scared the willies out of him.

"You know it's polite to bow back to someone if they're being polite?" Momoe asked sarcastically to her thoughtless sister. Miyako ignored it and looked at Iori again with a smile. Iori felt completely confused as to why Miyako was smiling at him again. What was it? Was his fly open? Was she mocking him? God, this girl was completely frustrating. Her emotions were worn on her sleeve and yet he couldn't divine the reason why she was smiling at him.

"Well I'll see you latter Iori-kun," Miyako said. She began walking with her older brother and sisters to her apartment. They stopped right next door and opened the door. Iori could smell dinner wafting in from the other room. A warm Japanese family dinner meal, when was the last time he had one of those with his family? They entered their apartment and he could hear their mother greeting her children home.

"Come on, dinners going to get cold if you come in," Mrs. Inoue told her children. Iori could hear Miyako's mother's voice from where he was standing and he watched them all enter into their apartment. Iori stood in the hallway a bit longer and listened to their chatter together until their door finally closed. It was then Iori fumbled with his keys to open his door. He entered a dark and cold apartment, devoid of people and empty. Light filtered in from an open window and gave him a good view of Tokyo city. The lights of the city cast themselves onto the sky and drowned out the stars. He stood in the hallway of his apartment and waited with there with his shoes on and tried to imagine his mother or grandfather greeting him for him dinner to be eaten together. It was too hard for him to imagine and he gave up. Removing his shoes he came in and without bothering to turn on the lights, headed straight to the kitchen to the refrigerator for dinner. Iori opened the freezer and grabbed a random microwavable to pop into the microwave for dinner. He quickly taped in the required time and waited for it too cook. Except for the buzzing of the microwave as it cooked dinner, the apartment was completely silent and if Iori could strain his ears enough, he could barely make out the sounds of eating next door. Ignoring that he went to the sink and washed his wound a bit and fumbled around for a band aid to put over it. He then placed his blood stained handkerchief in the laundry basket and returned the kitchen just in time.

Ping!

The microwave was done cooking and Iori opened the door to take out an unrecognizable mass of food. Or at least he dared to think it was food. The smell didn't really assure him that it was safe to eat at all but Iori nonetheless bravely grabbed a pair of chopsticks and picked up a piece of 'chicken' that oddly looked like something that was minced and spliced together meats of various animals. Probably mice, rats or some small animals that he didn't know of. Iori finally found himself craving for rice and miso soup but sighed resignedly, knowing his mother would be far too tired to cook dinner when she came home from work and his grandfather had no idea or ability at cooking.

Thus Iori placed the food on his kitchen table and then went back to the refrigerator to get something to drink. He opened the door and let the artificial light to wash over him and illuminate the kitchen. He tried to look for some milk or juice but ended up finding his grandfather's prune juice. Cans and packs of prune juice and nothing else. Iori grimaced and gagged at remembering the taste of prune juice. He didn't know how his grandfather could possible like the vile drink but Iori always accepted the prune juice from his grandfather though he despised it. Iori wrinkled his brow and grabbed the milk instead and then checked the expiration date to only discover the milk was three days old. His mother must have bought the milk four days ago at grocery market's special marked down produce section, in an effort to save money perhaps. Iori took a tentative sip from the carton and found the milk had fermented slightly. Making a face Iori went to the sink and dumped the milk down the drain.

'So much for milk,' Iori thought to himself and got himself a drink of water instead. He sat down at his kitchen table with the microwave dinner and stared at it. The darkness and silence of the apartment was amazing, the only sound that Iori could hear was the sounds out of his open apartment window. From there he could hear wind softly blowing in and the sounds of Miyako's family wafting in. He could hear them talking, arguing and laughing about things that Iori could care less about but it seemed so natural to them. Dinner with his family was always silent and always orderly. Iori's mother made dinner, Iori cleaned the dishes and grandfather dried them and put them in their place. However there was talking over dinner from what he could hear from Miyako's apartment, they talked about everything from dinner to work to their gripes about life.

'And if you wrong me, shall I not avenge? If I am like you in the rest, I will resemble you in that. The villainy you teach me I will execute,' Iori reminded himself of some long ago words he learned. Iori heard it once from someone who he saw get beaten up by Kanma and his crew, he remember the unfortunate victim having an intense liking for Shakespeare. Iori couldn't remember who got beaten up exactly but he knew that that someone left the school for another far away. Iori was quite sure that Kanma and his gang had decided to make Iori their next victim because Iori had interfered with the beating. Then came Miyako and her strange ways. What right did the Inoue have to complain about life? They were not always persecuted for no reason or purposely singled out for abuse. Iori found that he was violently tearing into his dinner but not eating it and could found no reason for his brutal dinner dissection, other than the fact that he was fantasizing how he was going to get back at Kanma. Miyako intervention with Kanma was a mistake and it tore at him like a festering wound. Iori stabbed his chopsticks into the 'chicken' violently and ripped them apart. Miyako had no right to simply burst into that and suddenly throw the natural balance out of whack. Why didn't she act like any other apathetic individual in the world and let Kanma do what he wanted with Iori? If she let Kanma continue with his injustice, then Iori would only have more reason and more justification in getting back at him. And Iori would have his 'justice' on Kanma but he needed to be patient and wait for a moment where Kanma was by himself, then Iori would implement punishment for Kanma's transgression.

Iori gave up on the thoughts of dinner and threw down his chopsticks in disgust. He wondered why he was so upset with Miyako who just happened to help him. She probably prevented Iori from suffering from serious injury. Yet he was completely ungrateful for it. He got up from his seat and closed the open window in the living room. He couldn't bear to listen to the Inoue family talking over dinner any more. He could hear them and their happy little family dinner all to well in the silence of his apartment. Iori still didn't bother putting on any light in his apartment and stared out the window, now closed. The lights of the city allowed to Iori to see and vague shapes of people walking down below in the darkness could be seen.

Iori lost track of time and simply sat at the window and looked out. There out in the city were millions of oblivious people who walked around their lives fulfilling nothing. It was depressing to think about it, was Iori going to end up like all those other people? Going through life accomplishing nothing that would impact anyone's life? To die and be forgotten without doing anything great or worthy to be praised or remembered for? No, Iori was determined not to become like so many of the masses out there. He would do something great; he would be something great and respected. He would learn and control his own fate. Then finally maybe he could feel like something his father would be proud of.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Iori got off from his seat by the window and went back into his kitchen. He saw the cold remains of his dinner and threw it out. He wasn't hungry anyways; the clock on the microwave told him that it was now 7:27 p.m. His mother and father would not be home until latter, possibly not until 9:30 p.m. perhaps he should have went with his grandfather to tonight's classes rather than stay home. It was too late to complain and now Iori found himself bored. Then a knock came on Iori's door. Blinking Iori went to the door and opened it. Bright light from the hallway, exposed to the open air, blinded him for a moment because he didn't bother turning on any lights inside his apartment. He could however see that the person who had knocked on his door was tall and had purple hair. Iori began to debate if the hair had been dyed or if it was actually natural.

"Hey Iori-kun! How are you feeling?" Miyako said enthusiastically. Iori blinked and looked at Miyako.

"What are you doing here Miyako-sempai?" Iori asked baffled.

"Didn't I tell you that I would see you latter?" Miyako asked rhetorically.

"Oh yeah and call me Miyako."

"Yes, but I thought you meant 'latter' as in tomorrow," Iori answered. He turned on his apartment's hallway lights while he answered.

"... I know this sounds really strange... But can I watch Rurouni Kenshin on your TV?" Miyako asked. She bowed her head and held her hands together in a sort prayer like way.

"What?..." Iori asked confused.

"My brother and sisters are watching that stupid drama, even though it's my time to watch TV. It's such a bummer having older brother's and sisters," Miyako gripped. Iori was not impressed and thought of a reason not to let Miyako inside.

"Well there's no one here but me..." Iori said to Miyako.

"Oh no! It must be starting right now! Oh Kenshin!" Miyako said tragically. Then she set her face into determination and looked at Iori. That made him feel very uncomfortable.

"Please, please, please, please let me just watch on your TV! I can't record it because my brother is recording something on the VCR! It'll only be for 30 minutes! Trust me you'll like the show!" Miyako said quickly. Iori didn't like it when people begged like that. He was such a pushover when someone asked him for help or something desperately. It wasn't as if his mother or grandfather would be back any time soon. It was just a stupid anime show, nothing special. Besides maybe he could finally divine why he felt so strange around her if he remained in her presence a bit longer.

"Fine... But when it's done you have to go Miyako-san," Iori answered exasperated. Kamis above he was such a sucker for desperate pleas. Miyako face light up and she smiled.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I'm coming Kenshin!" Miyako said happily. She hugged Iori and went into his house, turning on the lights. Iori just froze in surprise from Miyako's hug and blushed. He stood in the hallway with the door open wide still though Miyako had all ready come inside. He did not expect her to hug him and slowly closed the door embarrassed. The TV in the living room was all ready on and Iori could hear some perky, very perky, music coming from the TV. 

**__**

Daikirai datta sobakasu wo chotto  
Hitonadeshite tame iki wo hitotsu  
Hebi ikkyuu no koi wa migoto ni  
Kakuzatou to isshoni toketa  
Mae yori mo motto yaseta mune ni chotto  
"Chiku" tto sasaru toge ga itai  
Hoshiuranai mo ate ni naranai wa

Iori looked on the screen and saw the opening of Rurouni Kenshin on his TV screen. He had to admit the opening music was rather... catchy....

"I'm pessimistic that this is going to be a good anime Miyako-san," Iori said out loud. He didn't why he said that but Miyako could only smile at Iori. It was a knowing sort of smile.

"I'll take that as a challenge..." Miyako said.

*****

"I told you it was a good anime!" Miyako said triumphantly. Iori didn't say anything and relented finally under Miyako's smug look.

"Okay... You win, Miyako-san, it was a good show..." Iori admitted finally. He also had to admit that Miyako was very entertaining person to be around.

"See?" Miyako said and got up from the sofa.

"But do Sannosuke and Megumi always fight like that?" Iori asked. He didn't quite get the relationship those two characters had.

"Of course! They're a couple! Polar opposites," Miyako explained and took a closer look around Iori's apartment. It was similar to almost every other apartment in the complex truth be told but there were some touches here and there that made all the difference. One room had actually tatami mats on the ground while every where else it was bare wood floor and there was a surprisingly lack of family photos. Miyako had tons of pictures all over the walls of her apartment.

'Kind of like us though not in a romantic sense,' Iori dryly thought. He had subjected himself to listening to Miyako's rather enthusiastic cheers when Kenshin, the main character, came on. She seemed to be quite... obsessive with the anime character, for lack of a better term. She constantly sighs and comments how she would like to have an older guy like Kenshin with her. Iori found it very amusing and rather disturbing. He failed to see how some people could become so obsessive with a person that did not exist except on paper and in dreams.

"I think you should go Miyako-san..." Iori said shaking his head.

"Aw, come on. I just live next door; it's not as if I have to go back home soon. Now be a gentlemen and show me around," Miyako began in a slight wheedling voice. Iori found himself at a loss at what to say and relented to Miyako's request to stay a bit longer.

"It's exactly like your apartment but I suppose I can show you around..." Iori said and got up from his spot off the sofa. He knew internally it was stupid because the layout of his apartment was exactly the same as Miyako's next door, so why bother touring it? Despite these thoughts Iori showed Miyako the kitchen, bathroom, living room, the bedrooms and his bedroom last.

Miyako entered an austere room with a small desk and chair in one corner near the window. The bed was in a corner away from the window and the walls were bare without ornamentation. Miyako looked around and saw in one corner Iori's kendo equipment in perfect order. She was somewhat impressed on just how plain the room was. The only thing of interest really was the small computer that was still in it's packaging.

"... What's with the computer?" Miyako asked Iori.

"Oh... That... My father bought me that computer when I was four years old..." Iori answered but felt a little upset that Miyako asked the question.

"You mean you go it almost three years ago? That thing's outdated," Miyako pointed out and then noted the look on Iori's face. He was looking at her with his green eyes evenly and she got the hint that he took offense.

"Well... You can say I keep it for sentimental reason. I suppose I should get an updated computer," Iori said in a calm voice. Miyako bent over the computer and saw that it was not even out of it's protective wrapping, let alone set up.

"You've never used this computer have you?" Miyako asked curiously. Iori blinked and sighed.

"... I have no idea how to work it neither does my mother or grandfather," Iori admitted. Miyako smiled and then raised her arms into the air.

"Bingo! I'll set this computer up for you! My way of saying thanks for letting me watch Rurouni Kenshin over here on your TV," Miyako said smiling. She began to open the box and unwrapped the computer. Iori eyes widened and numbly stood by as he watched Miyako start setting up the computer.

"What! That's completely unnecessary Miyako-san!" Iori sputtered.

"Nonsense! Don't worry your little head off! I'm a pro!" Miyako said energetically. Iori tried to voice other objections but Miyako who managed to get everything ready within ten minutes casually brushed them aside. She turned on the power of the computer and put in the software program.

"Bingo!... Now let's get this baby ready!" Miyako said. Iori approached Miyako's side and tried to figure out what she was doing. Computers had never been his forte but just by looking at Miyako he could tell that she knew what she was doing.

"You need to get something better than Windows Iori-kun..." Miyako idly commented as the computer screen bloomed to life, ready for use though she distastefully noted that it was a Windows' program.

"... I've never used a computer before Miyako-san..." Iori finally admitted. Miyako looked shocked when she turned around to face Iori.

"... You're kidding me..." Miyako said in a disbelieving voice.

"... I'm not... I never saw a reason to use one before..." Iori admitted. He looked away from Miyako waiting for her to say something.

"... That's not a problem! I'll just teach you!" Miyako stated. Iori looked at Miyako puzzled.

"... Can I ask you something, Miyako-san?" Iori asked.

"Sure ask away!" Miyako said.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Iori asked suspiciously. The tone of his voice however made Miyako blink.

"... Why? Why not?" Miyako asked. Iori cringed and looked her straight in the eye. Miyako simply sighed and looked at the computer.

"Well?"

"You're such a lucky kid... I mean by saying that you're only child while I have three gluttonous siblings... I mean I never have time to myself or get any attention..." Miyako said. Iori felt annoyed seeing that Miyako had just changed the subject.

"Ah... Miyako-sempai..." Iori said in a firm voice.

"For the last time call me Miyako! None of the sempai stuff okay?" 

"That doesn't answer my question Miyako-san..."

"I guess... I mean just by looking at you, it makes me wonder. I mean you look like the type of kid who needs a friend... I mean I don't think I've ever seen your father around..." Miyako finally admitted. Iori felt annoyed and looked away from Miyako. He did not want pity of any sort from anyone. He got enough false pity from the parents of other children from his school. It was always something on the lines of.

'Look at that boy. Isn't he the one who lost his father?'

Or something similar. Always reminded he had no father to support his family. Always pitied and shied away from because they thought a tragedy like that might happen to them. Always praised for his stoicism from the loss of his father at the same time avoiding him. They all rang false in his ear and only added fuel to his ire. Praise and hypocritical avoidance of him and his family.

"I see... I believe it is time for you to return home Miyako-san," Iori said in a polite but somewhat cooler voice of civility. Miyako picked up on Iori's tone and winced.

"I didn't imply that you don't have any sort of friends Iori. It's just that..." Iori cut off Miyako.

"I have no friends of any sort. Nor do I have the current want or need for one, Miyako-san. Will you please kindly return home," Iori said. Miyako looked apologetic and got out of Iori's room and went to the hallway to get out. Iori was ever the polite but icy host, showed her out the door of his apartment.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to hurt you," Miyako said as she exited the apartment. Iori looked at her squarely in the eyes with his green eyes.

"You have not hurt me at all Miyako... You simply stated a fact which you believe is true nothing more," Iori answered and closed the door on Miyako who still stood in the hallway. She could only blink and shake her head. She walked back to her apartment but lingered a bit before returning home.

'I never should have let her in, in the first place,' Iori thought to himself and walked to his room. He got ready for bed and then saw that his newly set up computer was still on. He looked around and tried to figure out how to turn it off. He pulled out the plug and left it at that. He didn't have any sort of desire to use the computer and tomorrow it was school. He quickly grabbed the wrappings and garbage of the computer wrappings and placed it all in the box. Then headed to the washroom where he washed his face and brushed his teeth then return to his room to fall asleep fitfully. He dreamt of how he would get back at Kanma and plotted.

******

Hida Kagome returned to her apartment late and exhausted. She turned on the lights of the apartment and looked around. The apartment was clean and the kitchen had been tidied up. Kagome expected no less from her son and smiled sadly. Iori had eaten alone again though, she honestly tried to get back home so she could cook some dinner but her job had kept her away. Sighing sadly she opened the refrigerator and discovered the milk had been thrown out all ready by her son. She frowned at her son's fastidiousness but didn't complain about it. She should have bought fresher, longer lasting and slightly more expensive milk rather than clearance items. The microwave clock stated it was 9:41 p.m. Her father in law would be returning home soon from his kendo classes.

Kagome took off her coat and hung it on the rack. She walked tiredly to her son's room and opened the door to see him asleep in his bed. She looked at her son with pained fondness. Iori face was calm and she lingered over it to watch her son sleep. She noticed the computer that her husband had bought, many years ago for Iori, was set up. She blinked and opened the door fully as quietly as possibly and entered. She walked to the computer and saw that it was indeed set up and smiled lightly. She went over to Iori gave him a light kiss on the forehead and then noticed something on his forehead. It was a band aid of some sort and frowned. She dismissed it as an accident of sorts and walked out of the room. She headed over to the laundry basket to see what needed cleaning and noticed the blood stained handkerchief. Kagome frowned but said nothing. It was too late to ask questions and she would ask tomorrow morning when Iori was awake.

******

Morning came to early. At least that was what Miyako thought as she grumbled and tried to smack her alarm clock to shut it up. The digital beeping was getting on her nerves and then discovered it wasn't her alarm clock that was beeping but her older sister Momoe's alarm clock. Checking to see what time it was, Miyako could read that it was only 6 a.m. It was way to early to be awake since Miyako didn't have to commute to school unlike her older siblings. Annoyed that her sleep had been interrupted Miyako tried to fall asleep again but found it near impossible since the entire household was now awake and running around to prepare for the day.

"Jeez! People there is one person here who doesn't have to get up as early as you guys do!" Miyako shouted form her room frustrated. It was impossible to sleep due to all commotion of readying people. Miyako simply got up and got changed for school, annoyed that she was once again cheated from another's hour worth of sleep because of her family. Again, mind you for every morning of every weekday and weekend. Why they all just sleep in for just one day! Miyako exited to see her mother busily preparing lunches for everyone but once again prepared Miyako's lunch wrong because her mother concentrated so hard on making Miyako's older siblings lunches first while her father prepared breakfast. Her older brother had all ready laid claimed to the TV while her older sisters Chizuru and Momoe had commandeered the washroom. Miyako was annoyed and realized that she would have to wait for at least thirty minutes to use the washroom.

"Miyako! Move it or lose it! Get the store ready for opening!" Fuemo said as he served up breakfast. Miyako cringed.

"Why can't Mantarou! He's just standing here like a doofus!" Miyako whined. Fuemo however didn't pay attention.

"Just do it! The keys are on the table, go downstairs. I'll be down with Mantarou in a few minutes," Fuemo said as he placed breakfast on a plate for his son who charged to the dinner table to eat. Miyako growled and took the key to open the store. She went out of her apartment and ran down the stairs to the store with keys in hand.

'Stupid brother! Stupid father!... Why do I have to open the store! Why can't dad feed me breakfast first before anyone else? Why doesn't mom ever get my lunch right? Why does Momoe and Chizuru always get to use the washroom before I do?' Miyako ranted mentally to herself. The door was unlocked and Miyako threw the doors opened in a rage. It didn't make her feel better but it made all the more convinced that her strange and touchy neighbour Iori had a luckier existence being an only child.

Speaking of which Iori had woken up as well... Though not because an alarm clock had woken him up but rather a far more effective means of getting up in the morning.

It all began with a man. He stalked the room like a lion after his prey. His footfall was utterly silent and his breathing quiet. Iori would never know what was going to him at all. Slowly but surely the stalker approached his unsuspecting prey. Or at least he thought it was unsuspecting prey.

"Grandfather I know you're there. Just let me a few more minutes of sleep okay?" Iori mumbled and turned on his bed away from his grandfather who fumed.

"I'll say it once and I'll say it again. Early to bed, early to rise..." Iori's grandfather began but Iori ended it.

"Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise... Okay I'm getting up," Iori said in a grumpy voice. He had been fantasizing about strangling Kanma to death in his dream. The bloated asphyxiated blue face of Kanma's was a very fond and pleasant image that Iori wish he could keep for a bit longer. But alas, his grandfather had once again woken him up early in the morning again. It was only 6 a.m. Iori checked his band aid and saw that it was still on his forehead.

"Okay, Iori let's go for a run after you eat," Chikara said as he watched his grandson get up. Leaving the room he waited for his grandson to get changed into a fresh set of clothing. Kagome was busy getting the miso soup and rice ready for breakfast. The lunch for her son was ready in one corner of the kitchen. Silence reigned in the apartment, there was no unnecessary chatter, only work. Toturi began eating his breakfast while Iori came out of his room changed.

"Thank you mother," Iori said in a polite voice and began eating breakfast. Kagome simply nodded and began piling her rice into her own bowl to eat. Breakfast was a silent and unhurried affair until Kagome broke the silence.

"Did something happen yesterday Iori?" Kagome asked. She looked at her son who had the band aid on his forehead.

"I got a rock thrown at my head," Iori answered evenly without emotions clouding his voice. No nervousness, pain or anger just a neutral tone as if he didn't really care or minded. Kagome winced and wished her son would stop being so brutally honest with her. A bit tack and some subtle explanation would have carried the message but when Iori talked to her it was always the truth. There was no sugar coating on it, just the simple stated fact.

"When was this?" Chikara asked calmly. He stopped eating and looked at his grandson.

"Yesterday, don't worry a neighbour got them to stop," Iori answered. He knew all too often that his blunt way of talking to his mother about the truth often hurt her or caused her unnecessary worry but he couldn't lie to her. It was wrong on all levels but he decided to try and curb his frankness by not mentioning that he had a plan on how he was going to extract justice from Kanma for all his crimes.

"You didn't do anything like fight back did you?" Kagome asked her son. She knew it was an unnecessary question but there were times that Iori worried her. She wished her son would express a little more emotion, especially since he just had a rock thrown at his head.

"No I didn't at the time," Iori answered honestly again. 

'Though I was planning to ambush him as he walks home alone today... Does an ambush count as a fight?' Iori thought to himself. He was tempted to say the sentence out loud but he was quite sure his mother and grandfather would disapprove if they heard it. After all it wasn't as if Iori wanted to kill Kanma. If he killed Kanma, his revenge would be over and Iori wanted to at least hear Kanma scream in pain for a few more hours.

"That's good but next time try to avoid those bullies okay?" Kagome said in a hopeful voice.

"I know mother but they usually are the ones who start it," Iori answered. 

'Though by the end of today I'll probably will start it for the first time,' Iori thought to himself in silence. Chikara sighed and got up from his set after eating his breakfast.

"Come on Iori, let's go for that morning run shall we?" Chikara said. Iori quickly ate the last bit of his breakfast and got up from the table.

"Thank you for breakfast," Iori said to his mother and followed his grandfather out the apartment.

Miyako was busy down in the corner store getting the electricity on for everything. She grumbled as she began to drag out a new carton of milk out from the back to put into the coolers for sale. Her father and older brother Mantarou were late... AGAIN! Miyako snarled with annoyance. This was probably the eight hundredth time they were late coming down to help her. They always had excuses but whenever she tried to explain why she didn't have all the foodstuffs ready they simply rolled their eyes. Hello? Jackasses! There are twelve very heavy cartons of milk and other drinks she has to set up and then at least twelve more boxes to open and carry out. There is no way someone by themselves can do all that in just thirty minutes.

"Argh! I'm going to kill them!" Miyako vowed and stopped for moment to get a crick out of her back. A welcomed crackle from her back could be heard as she stretched. She then saw outside of the store Iori and an old man stretching themselves out. Miyako watched them for a moment from the shop window. Iori seemed oblivious to Miyako and continued to stretch. Miyako saw the old man talk to Iori and then Iori answer back. She couldn't hear anything they were talking about and began to run off somewhere. Miyako sighed as she lost sight of Iori and went back to work. Perhaps Iori wasn't as lucky as she thought he was if he had to get up at 6:30 a.m. to run.

Iori felt the cold wind press against his body as he ran and enter his lungs. It was rather relaxing to have the wind in your face first thing in the morning. Chikara easily kept up his pace while Iori ran alongside him. There were very few people up and about. They kept on running for at least twenty minutes before Chikara decided to start walking a bit so he could talk with Iori. Iori knew what was to come when he saw his grandfather slow down to a brisk walk instead of run.

"Iori, let's stop for a moment," Chikara said and stopped by a wall to catch his breath. Age was robbing him of his strength and endurance it seemed. He didn't like it but it was inevitable that he would slow down. Iori stood by his grandfather side.

"Are you all right?" Iori asked.

"Yes but I wanted to talk to you about what had happened to you yesterday," Chikara said. Iori sighed and listened to his grandfather patiently with undivided attention.

"It was Kanma wasn't it?" Chikara stated. It wasn't a question and Iori understood that.

"Yes it was," Iori affirmed Chikara's guess. The old man sighed tiredly and looked up at the sky.

"When he threw that rock at you what did you feel?" Chikara asked.

"... I don't really know. I wasn't angry and I wasn't afraid, I just felt that he would get what was coming to him one day," Iori answered, it was the truth he stated nothing more. Said anything more such as Iori desire for 'justice', it was cause unnecessary concern. Chikara said nothing and began walking again, Iori followed after his grandfather.

"Slap Buddha in the face three times and even he will get angry... Remember that Iori, it's not healthy not feel any emotions," Chikara stated. Iori simply nodded but didn't understand.

******

The sounds of laughing and playing children could be heard. It was now 8 a.m. and Iori approached Odaiba Elementary in silence. He walked alone to the school as always and came up to the gate. Much to his ire, he saw Kanma standing around with his group of friends. There were about five of them all together, Iori wasn't stupid enough to provoke them but he was pretty pessimistic about the chances that Kanma would leave him alone.

"So I spit on her..." Kanma said in a bragging voice and then stopped noticing Iori coming into the school grounds. He grinned and quickly pointed out Iori to his other friends.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't kendo master Hida Iori? What special things are you going to do today? Kiss up to the teacher?" Kanma said in a mocking tone. Iori ignored Kanma and kept on walking unfortunately Kanma stepped in Iori's way.

"What? You have nothing to say to me? Where's your ugly girlfriend?" Kanma said viciously. He concentrated so much on Iori, he failed to take notice that Miyako had just arrived and overheard his remark.

"Excuse me! What did you just call me?! I am not ugly!" Miyako said in a loud voice and stomped her way over to Kanma. The bully jumped up surprised and looked up to see the purple-haired girl stomping her way over to him. Iori took that precise moment to slip away from the two, he didn't want to deal with them this morning. A plan had been formulating in his head for the past little while and simmered in his brain as he ironed out the details. He would have his revenge on Kanma yet. All he needed was a some information.

"Ah, shit..." Kanma muttered and then turned around to get his other friends to his side. Miyako noticed Iori walking away again.

"Hey Iori-kun! Stop right there!" Miyako shouted after Iori. Sighing Iori turned around reluctantly to face Miyako.

"Yes Miyako-sempai?" Iori asked in a harried voice. He wished to Miyako would leave him alone.

"Call me Miyako! Just Miyako," she insisted. Kanma rallied his four friends to his side. They stood together and looked at Miyako, trying to intimidate her but failing miserably. Eventually a spiky brown haired boy with goggles entered the school grounds and noticed Miyako confronting the group while Iori looked on with dispassionate eyes.

"Hey Miyako! What's going on?" The boy asked as he jogged to her side.

"Nothing Daisuke. I'm just going to pound this guy into the ground for spitting in my face yesterday," Miyako explained. Kanma wavered but his courage was buoyed by the presence of his four friends.

"Like hell you're going to beat me up," Kanma spat and looked at Daisuke who simply smiled.

"Can I help?" Daisuke asked Miyako in a innocent tone of voice. 

"Why of course Daisuke," Miyako said benevolently. Kanma looked around at his friends who seemed reluctant to take on two older students. Sure they outnumbered them but they were talking about older kids who were in grade five and they were only in grade two. It wasn't a type of situation they could really expect to win. Kanma saw that he had little choice but back off for now, he would get back at Iori some other time.

"You're lucky we're not up to beat you two into a paste," Kanma said snarling. He and his four friends ran off into a different direction leaving the two older students alone.

"Damn punks... Look at them run," Daisuke muttered. Miyako walked up to Iori again.

'Please just leave me alone...' Iori quietly begged in his mind but it was futile.

"Are you all right?" Miyako asked concerned. Iori bowed slightly and answered.

"Yes Miyako-sempai, I'm all right. It was unnecessary for you to come to my assistance," Iori answered. Miyako frowned and sighed.

"You're not going to give up the 'sempai' business are you?" Miyako asked exasperated. Iori just frowned and walked away from Miyako ignoring her. It was rude but he needed to get his plans rolling, soon he would have his revenge on Kanma. So what did it matter if he was being rude?

"What's with him?" Daisuke asked watching Iori walk away.

"....One very strange and lonely boy," Miyako answered after a bit of thought.

"I'm a strange and lonely boy," Daisuke said childishly but Miyako simply glared at him.

"What?..." Daisuke asked. He then noticed Hikari walking through the gates of the school and smiled.

"Go after your one true love Daisuke," Miyako said in a light voice noting the goofy look on Daisuke face.

"Yeah... Sure... Hikari-chan!" Daisuke said and ran over to a petite brown haired girl with a digital camera hanging from her neck. Miyako sighed and turned around to see where Iori went and soon discovered he was nowhere in sight.

"... Strange boy," Miyako commented.


	2. Another School Day

You guys didn't think that this is just a one-shot did you?... Well here's the second chapter.  
Remember this is an AU fic and such some things maybe quite different from the TV show.

Byleth - very bad temper  
Gusoyn- procures favors, reconciles friends and foes  
Mammon- greed avarice   
Agares- demon of courage, earthquakes, brings back fugitives  
Melpomene- Greek muse (Tragedy)  
Thalia- Greek muse (Comedy)  
Hotei- God of Happiness (Shinto, one of the seven lucky gods)

She had done it again or so Iori thought. He found himself on the verge of ranting about Miyako's meddling with the way the world worked. No one in this world ever helped another without prompting or without reason. Iori did what he did because of honor and the preservation of law. Order over chaos and yet Miyako seemed to choose a chaotic path reasoning that Iori could not begin to fathom. The fact that she told him yesterday that she helped him out because she pitied him was simply not a good enough of a reason and quite frankly was an insult to him. He fumed but managed to calm himself down when he realized that he was losing control over his emotions. He closed his eyes and calmed down to get his course of action into his mind.

Iori had a goal in mind and it was firmly entrenched in his brain. It was written Sun Tzu that what enables the wise commander to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is foreknowledge. Knowledge of the enemy's dispositions can only be obtained from other men. Or in this case a single boy that Iori knew of in his classroom that takes roughly the same route that Kanma takes when going home. Further more Iori knew that this boy was bullied by Kanma and was probably eager to share information with him to prop up Kanma's downfall. If not, the boy was more than willing to talk since he seemed so weak-willed when cornered.

Iori could only grimly smile as he came into sight with a short black haired boy hiding in the shadows. Obviously trying to avoid Kanma or any member of his crew from getting to him. Iori swiftly approached without alerting him but by that time the other boy realized that Iori had approached it was too late. Iori noted somewhere in the back of his brain that what he was doing was no better than the bullies who harassed him. But that feeling was soon lost when he remembered every insult and physical assault that Kanma had inflicted on him. A few sacrifices of the innocent were required if he truly wanted justice to be done. Iori's stomach clenched as he thought about his plans and what he was about to do. It made him feel almost nervous and guilty but Iori buried the feeling though it didn't all go away.

The boy looked around his surrounding with abject paranoia and terror. He grimaced and looked at one of his fellow classmates. A freaky quiet boy that didn't talk much and had intense green eyes that seemed to damn you on the spot. Hida Iori acted like a demon worse than Kanma at times, not because he was a bully but rather because he acted far beyond what a kid his age should act. The way he carried himself, the way the eyes regarded things calm, impassionate and thoroughly cold. Eyes that were almost machinelike and a face that bore nothing more than a slight frown of concentration and enduring silence. The calm unemotional face and eyes were something that Hirota avoided vigorously during school. But there it was, blocking his path to escape. He knew the drill all too well; he gave anything that Iori wanted. The boy, Hirota, was too tired to resist against anyone who threatened him. Though he had to admit Iori had not said anything, he merely approached Hirota but Hirota knew that Iori wanted something from him. Getting mugged by Kanma and his pals so many times had taught the fundamentals of body language when people wanted something all too well.

"Eh... Hi Hida-san," Hirota said in a nervous voice and smiled weakly. Oh, he knew that Iori wouldn't harm him physically but he also knew that Iori never made idle banter. This meeting with him was not a simple innocent social call or small talk common amongst others.

"Good morning Mirobu-san," Iori answered politely. The words simply left his mouth without any regard of being truly sincere or pleasant. He wasn't here to be pleasant; he was here because he wanted justice.

"You know how Kanma goes home right?" Iori asked in crisp voice without waiting for Hirota to react. Hirota winced and wished he wasn't trapped in a corner.

"Yeah," Hirota answered quickly and without thinking. He wanted this done as quickly as possible without anyone knowing about this conversation.

"Then you know then where he goes I assume?"

"Are you kidding me? He forces me to come with him," Hirota answered bitterly. Iori didn't say a thing and paused in his line of questioning for a moment before continuing.

"I'm sorry to hear about that but what if I tell you that I can make that change?" Iori offered. Hirota's eyes light up and paid more attention to Iori. Iori had Hirota's complete attention and had just dangled an offer in front of the other boy.

"What do you need to know?" Hirota asked.

"Can you tell me when he's alone?" Iori asked coolly while Hirota seemed look at Iori baffled.

"Why are you so interested?" Hirota asked.

'I suppose I should bribe him,' Iori thought to himself as he fumbled in his pocket to take out half a dozen one hundred-yen coins and a smattering of five hundred-yen coins. He had been saving quite a bit of money for over the last two years of his life; it often surprised him how much loose change accumulated over such a time. He pressed a hundred-yen into the other boy's hands.

"No question why I want to know. Just answer my questions and I'll give a fifty-yen for every answer."

Hirota's eyes widened at the amount of money that Iori possessed and mutely nodded. He was in desperate need of replenishing his own supply of money since Kanma made it a habit of borrowing from him without ever intending to pay back. Iori grimly smiled at the expression on Kanma's face and noted that he had just bought the other boy's silence. As long as this 'relationship' between him and Hirota was profitable it would continue until they had nothing more to gain or was discovered.

Iori felt rather pleased that reading Sun Tzu was not a waste of time after all. He read specifically about spies in the book that he had in his possession at home. The book was quite old and almost ready to fall apart but Iori had managed to memorize the most important part of the chapter that he read.

__

Hence it is the commander's most precious faculty that which none in the whole army are more intimate relations to be maintained than with spies. None should be more liberally rewarded and in no other fields should greater secrecy be preserved. (1) Spies cannot be usefully employed without a certain intuitive sagacity; (2) They cannot be properly managed without benevolence and straight forwardness; (3) Without subtle ingenuity of mind, one cannot make certain of the truth of their reports; (4) Be subtle! Be subtle! And use your spies for every kind of warfare.

"He's not usually alone; he hangs until it's really late though. Around seven and all," Hirota answered and then became quiet. Iori frowned as he realized that Hirota had not provided him with enough information and was waiting for Iori's next question. He had clearly underestimated the other boy's sense of greed and level of intelligence; Hirota had every intention of milking as much money out of this situation as possible. Which was fine in Iori's mind because that just meant that Hirota was not was stupid as some individuals he knew of. Iori thought carefully about his next question.

"Who does he hang out with?" Iori asked.

"He hangs out with five other guys usually. Gunro, Wakabe, Motoki, Jubei and Yanagata but they usually don't hang around him after six."

Hirota stuck out his hand for money for Iori's question expectantly. Iori handed over another hundred yen to Hirota and thought about his next question.

"Where does Kanma hang around most often alone?" Iori asked.

"Around subway platform 20 but most of the time he's at Abaraki Park," Hirota answered clearly enjoying the situation and remained silent after answering. He had two hundred-yen and wanted more out of Iori.

"Are there any adults or something like that at the park during that time?"

"Well... Yes and no. Depends on the days."

"Depends on the days?"

Hirota stuck his hand out for more money patiently and smiled. Iori sighed and handed over another hundred yen to Hirota with a sigh. Hirota smiled and opened his mouth to answer.

"You see today nothing is planned at the park. There's no sports practice, groups out there for some reason or anything. But every other day from, say, Wednesday to Monday, there's something going on."

"Are you sure that nothing and no one is there to witness or watch Kanma?"

"Hey... That's two questions rolled into one..."

Money changed hands again but Iori grumbled under his breath a bit annoyed. He had clearly underestimated Hirota's sense of greed and intelligence all right. He hated when this sort of thing happened because it was beyond his control.

"Yes there's nothing planned today but I can't guarantee there's no one else in the fields on this day," Hirota said as he pocketed his money quickly and looked around the hallway to see if anyone was eavesdropping. A mildly worried look came over Hirota's face but set back into a more relaxed look as he noted that no one was in the school yet. Perhaps because no kid would be inside at this time unless they were required to or trying to hide, much like him.

"What time does Kanma 'exactly' leave the park from? I need you to be specific," Iori asked with all seriousness he could muster, which incidentally was a lot. Hirota stopped to think for a moment and then sighed.

"I don't know... All I know is that the subway ride home for him takes about twenty minutes... We're neighbours and all... So he returns roughly around 7:30 to watch Rurouni Kenshin... I wager before seven p.m. he starts heading back to the subway to come back home."

Iori eyes narrowed as he processed all the information he learned from Hirota. With deliberate slowness Iori put away his money, all except for a single five hundred-yen coin which he showed to Hirota between his index finger and thumb. Hirota stared at the coin and reached out for it but Iori pulled the money back and stared right back at Hirota with ferocious intensity. Hirota took a step back inadvertently and pressed his body against the classroom door.

"Remember... I didn't talk to you and you didn't talk to me... This money just cements that fact, remember okay?" Iori said in a deadly voice. If Hirota squealed to Kanma before the plan was implemented then all of his planning would be for naught. Secrecy had to maintained or else. Hirota meekly reached out and took the coin out of Iori's hand then quickly pocketed the money. Iori turned to leave Hirota but Hirota spoke up in quiet voice.

"I... I don't know why you asked me all those questions but..." Hirota began shakily and began looking around in abject paranoia before continuing but Iori cut him short.

"What questions? We didn't talk at all," Iori answered calmly but Hirota ignored Iori's response.

"He's out to get you... Kanma I mean... Just watch out okay? He's afraid of you... and jealous, I think..."

Now that got Iori's attention. Iori raised an eyebrow but he didn't turn around. He looked out the window with his back squarely facing Hirota. Iori always knew that Kanma was a coward but the fact that Hirota just said that Kanma was jealous was completely new to him.

"Oh... I see..." Iori said calmly before walking away from Hirota pondering upon what he said.

Hirota gripped the door of his classroom tightly before opening the door quickly and entering the silent classroom. Sunlight filtered in from the windows and into the hallways of the school as Iori quickly walked away from where he talked to Hirota. The free piece of information that Hirota had provided was most amusing to Iori. After all what was there that Iori possessed that would drive Kanma to jealousy? Absolutely nothing was the answer and yet Hirota claimed that Kanma was jealous. Absurd, perhaps Hirota was not as observant or as smart as Iori pegged him as or perhaps it was simply that he did not believe the information provided. In any case that little piece of information was completely unrelated and impractical to his plans for justice and thus he ignored it but carefully filed it away to the back of his mind.

Iori stopped halfway down the stairwell of the second floor for a moment before turning around and walking back up to the second floor again when he noted that walking back to the schoolyard was an act of futility seeing how close it was to the start of class. He returned to the second floor and stood in the silent school hallway, waiting for the bell to ring and begin class. Iori out of boredom looked out the window to see what was happening in the schoolyard.

The schoolyard was filled up and from Iori's vantage point he could see an impromptu soccer game being held below. A well-tanned boy with a pair of goggles on his head had the ball and was obviously showing off to a girl in pink with a camera who was talking to another girl. The girl in pink didn't seem to be paying all too much attention to the boy who was trying so hard to impress her, not that Iori blamed her. Iori recognized Daisuke almost immediately and he had to concur that Miyako's description of Daisuke was accurate down to a tee. Energetic, infectiously happy and was quite possibly an optimist like Miyako, a good pair of friends. Of course Iori came to the conclusion that optimists like Daisuke, if he were just as random and chaotically cheerful as Miyako, would drive him insane or at least annoy him to the ends of time. The girl in pink however got his attention though, it wasn't that she wasn't pretty or anything. She was actually quite attractive for a girl but it wasn't that aspect he was interested in. It was her face, her eyes and the way she acted. A strange patience and tolerance that he had never seen in an individual, it was as if she had suffered and managed to survive something. She lightly brushed away her bangs and turned face Daisuke with a measuring look before smiling at him. That smile however may have been a bad mistake since it distracted Daisuke from the soccer game and caused another opposing team member to steal the soccer ball away from him and cause Daisuke trip over the opposing player's leg and crash to the ground. Bits of grass and dirt stuck to Daisuke's face and Hikari could only lightly put a hand over her mouth as her eyes widened in surprise but luckily Daisuke got right back up and chased down the offending player. It was obvious from even where Iori was standing that Daisuke was ranting about something and Hikari seemed to sigh in frustration, resting her hand on her forehead. Then she did something very unexpected, stopped what she was doing and turned her head and looked up towards where Iori was watching from. That startled him because he could have sworn the girl was looking straight at him with those ruby red eyes but before he could ascertain whether she was looking at him or not, she looked away. Iori felt his heart pounding in his chest a bit and calmed it down by beginning to scan the playground for Miyako who seemed mysteriously absent. The girl in pink with the camera unnerved him to a certain degree and wanted to have a welcomed diversion from her intense eyes. Iori noted that it was ironic that an intense stare of purpose unnerved him since he always did it to his other 'fellow' classmates. He also noted that he now knew exactly how they probably felt when he 'looked' at them.

'Where is Miyako any way? I don't see her anywhere... Oh wait... I see her...' Iori thought to himself as he forgot about the strange ruby-eyed girl, right now he was slightly preoccupied on watching a certain purple haired girl flit from individual to individual in the schoolyard. Miyako seemed incessantly happy, as she went... no, scratch that... skipped to each individual, which Iori noted, were all attractive guys or beautiful girls without a care. That made Iori feel rather annoyed and embarrassed for some strange reason, if Iori didn't know any better Miyako looked like she was flirting with those of the opposite sex and the same sex before moving on because of some strange flight of fancy. There was no sense of logic in the way Miyako seemed to greet each individual. For example for a rather tall boy with glasses, Miyako literally threw her arms over the startled boy and proceeded to ruffle his hair. While for another, a girl with long brown hair, she simply waved to the girl and gave her a tight hug before giving another girl a playful punch in the shoulders.

Iori intently watched Miyako's actions as she went all over the schoolyard. If he noticed or particularly cared at that moment, he would have noted that he was perhaps observing Miyako and her actions a bit too intently for his comfort or anyone else's for that matter. Iori was unaware that he was snarling as Miyako went into the thick of a clique of people and talked to each individual with apparent ease before breaking off to another individual or group. Didn't that girl have any sort of constancy? Why doesn't she simply stick to a group or an individual or two instead of wandering around the schoolyard like some sort of animal on the prowl. Then again why should he care at all what Miyako did? She mocked him! She 'pitied' him and supposedly 'envied' him. He didn't want pity or envy from her. He wanted... he wanted... Hell, now he didn't know what the to think now or what to want but he did not want her pity. It was like acid being dripped on his steely stoicism of which he possessed.

He almost didn't hear the bell ring when it did since he so preoccupied with watching Miyako. He lingered by the window before forcing himself from the window and to class. For some strange reason he felt like he was burning from the inside but he mentally berated himself.

'I only met her yesterday!'

*******

Miyako hummed happily to herself as she filtered through the front entrance of the school and opened her little locker to get out a pair of shoes. The entrance was crowded with others opening their lockers and changing their shoes before going inside to their respective classes. Daisuke was off trying wipe off the persistent grass stain on his face with a handkerchief which Hikari had lent him while Hikari had all ready left the entrance hall. Miyako finished changing her shoes and got up to leave before she remembered one very critical thing that she had neglected to do this morning. She had forgotten to glomp her sempai Izumi-chan! Yes, Izumi Koushiro, the infamously female-awkward, short computer nerd of sixth grade wonder (not to mention a complete cutie in a clueless sort of way). Horrified at the fact she neglected her self-made duty to at least glomp her beloved redheaded sempai once a day she looked around to see where he might have gone but unfortunately could not seem to locate him anywhere. Miyako came to the conclusion that Izumi-chan had all ready made his way to class without waiting for his obligatory glomp.

Now that was depressing but Miyako felt immensely better when she noted that today was Tuesday, which meant that she and her beloved sempai would be together after school to work on the computers. Apparently someone had found a way to send less than appropriate pictures to certain individuals in the school. No matter how well they hid their tracks on the computer's network, Miyako was more than confident that both she and Izumi-chan would find the culprit's electronic trail, find who he was and stop him. Miyako let an evil smile cross her face since the culprit had decided to send some rather bad pictures to her school e-mail account. I mean come on, half the guys and girls in the pictures weren't even hot!

"Miyako..." Daisuke said in an irritated voice at the oblivious girl. He poked at her arm but she didn't seem to notice him. It became obvious to Daisuke that Miyako had gone into her bishie day dream world and nothing short of an explosion (or perhaps an angry teacher) would wake her.

Miyako continued with her thoughts, oblivious to the outside world and Daisuke insistent poking on her arm. Now, if Miyako wanted to send naughty pics, she would send a few really good yaoi bishonen pics she found on the Internet and maybe send a few Gundam Wing pics of her favourite God of Death Duo Maxwell. Miyako closed her eyes and imagined seeing Deathscythe Hell and a brown haired Gundam pilot with braided hair sweep her into his arm.

"MIYAKO!! WAKE UP YOU STUPID COMPUTER NERD!!" Daisuke shouted in her ear and jammed his finger into her ribs as hard as possible to punctuate his point. Miyako's eyes flew open and instead of seeing the face of her favourite anime character, she saw Daisuke's well tanned and exaggerated face of frustration. It wasn't exactly something she was expected and she pulled back away from Daisuke from his efforts but she accidentally tripped over her feet and landed on the floor on her butt.

Miyako's little daydream was completely wrecked by Daisuke's effort but then the second bell rang. She was only person left in the entrance hall with Daisuke since everyone had all ready left the area. This meant that Miyako was going to be late for class and she had also made Daisuke tardy as well.

"Why didn't tell me that class was going to start!?" Miyako shouted at Daisuke before jumping onto her feet. Without waiting for a response or saying thank you to Daisuke, she ran down the hallway at top speed... Daisuke bent down and picked up Miyako's backpack, which she left behind and looked at where the purple haired girl once was sitting. By the time he looked up, Miyako was gone. Leaving behind a very confused Daisuke who looked around to try and find Miyako.

"AHHH!!!!" Miyako shouted as she realized she had forgotten her backpack. The trampling of a pair of feet echoed in the hallway's corridor. The sound came closer and closer to the entrance way where Daisuke stood with Miyako's backpack in his right hand while his left held his own backpack.

BADA BADA BADA BADA

The sound of running was like a freight train and Daisuke braced himself. Miyako crashed into him, knocking down to the ground as Miyako grabbed the backpack in Daisuke's left hand and ran down the hallway again.

"THANKS DAI-CHAN!!!" Miyako said as she tore down the hall to her class. Daisuke stayed on the ground for a few seconds, dazed by Miyako's sudden burst of energy that knocked him to the ground.

"... Damn... Now I'm late for class," Daisuke muttered to himself as he picked his body off the ground. Daisuke ran down the hall, not realizing that he had Miyako's backpack. He rushed to his classroom, which was class 4-1, and threw open the door.

"Rise!" Zanato said in a monotone voice. He was the class representative and raised an eyebrow as Daisuke entered the room late. A few students giggled as they raised form their seat as they had all heard Miyako's shout of 'thanks Dai-chan'. In fact, unsurprisingly, almost everyone in the school heard Miyako's shout. Daisuke was as red as a tomato when people snickered and he tried to look casual as possible as the teacher casually marked down his name as late.

"Bow!"

Daisuke edged towards his seat next to Hikari as subtlety as possible but the teacher had all ready noted his presence. Not that Daisuke noticed he could hope for otherwise couldn't he? In any case, next time he saw Miyako he would have to ask her to stop calling him 'Dai-chan'. Now if Hikari-chan called him that, he would not mind at all. In fact he'd encourage Hikari to call him that as much as possible. As Daisuke edged towards his seat, the class bowed to the teacher.

"Sit!

The entire class sat down leaving Daisuke and teacher, the only people standing. Daisuke felt naturally exposed by every set of eyes watch him freeze up in mid step. He was so close to his seat next to Hikari but the teacher's voice stopped him from making the critical and fluid motion of sitting down in his seat by the teacher's voice.

"Motomiya-kun, go and stand out in the hallway. This is the third time you've been late. The buckets of water are right beside the door outside," Muzaki Isoko said unimpressed without looking up from her roll call. Daisuke froze from the teacher's tone of voice and made a lame attempt to salvage his pride by raising his arms behind his head in such a way that it looked casual and made a goofy face.

"Aragami Maiko...." The teacher called out names.

"Here." A student answered.

"Ayato Shiburo..."

"Here." Another student answered.

"You mean you were expecting me to be late? Isn't that a form of discrimination?" Daisuke wheedled to the teacher, interrupting roll call. He kept his infamous 'I'm not late' pose which convinced no one, least of all the teacher.

"First question, yes... Second question, no... Now go stand in the hall," Muzaki answered without looking up.

Daisuke with obvious disdain walked to the door where the buckets of water were promised to be. He shouldered Miyako's backpack and opened the door to let himself out. The buckets of water were indeed right besides the door in the hallway. Sighing Daisuke closed the door and picked up the buckets but then the familiar sound of pounding feet was heard.

BADA BADA BADA BADA

Looking up to see what it was, Daisuke was hoping that it was not Miyako again because she all ready embarrassed him enough this morning. Unfortunately for Daisuke it was indeed Miyako again but she had in her hands two buckets full of water and an annoyed look on her face. She came to a stop in front of Daisuke and gave him a glare.

"What?" Daisuke asked annoyed.

"Backpack..." Miyako said tersely.

"And?" Daisuke asked impatient.

"You have mine..."

"How do you know?"

Miyako cleared her throat in a self-important sort of way. Like when parents were about to go into a lecture.

"Dearest Hikari-chan, I have always admired you and..." Miyako began in a low whisper but Daisuke made a quick move to place his hand over Miyako's mouth. Unfortunately that meant he had to drop the water bucket in his left hand. The bucket clattered on the ground and splashed water over Daisuke and Miyako's legs and feet.

"Shit!" Daisuke swore.

"I heard that Motomiya-kun!" Muzaki said. Her voice could be heard quite clearly and closely as well. Miyako and Daisuke turned their head around to see the teacher standing at the door with a faintly aggravated look on her face. The two guilty individuals then lowered their eyes to see that the water from Daisuke's water bucket had accidentally drenched the teacher's legs and feet as well.

"Umm.... Oops?" Daisuke and Miyako said at the same time. They gave Muzaki their best 'I'm sorry' face and smiled nervously. Muzaki sighed in apparent defeat and looked at the two.

"Trade backpacks, clean up the floor and get to your classes!" Muzaki ordered in a tone that both could not argue with.

***(Grade 1 class)***

"AHHH!!!!"

BADA BADA BADA BADA

"THANKS DAI-CHAN!!!"

BADA BADA BADA BADA

The voice of Miyako and her stomping footsteps easily reverberated throughout the school. Many students in Iori's class looked up confused from their books and left their paper and pencils idle. Iori however found Miyako's voice to be grating on his nerves and accidentally ripped the piece of paper he had in half with his pencil which also broke it's tip. No one seemed to notice Iori's reaction at all, which was fine with Iori.

Some people started talking to each other and debated just who had shouted out loud in the hallway. Various voices and questions filled the air; not that Iori cared at the moment. He tried to casually hide his inadvertent reaction from Miyako's shouting and trampling by crumpling up the piece of paper on his desk and taking out another freshly sharpened pencil in his pencil case.

"Silence class," Mr. Muramaki, the teacher of the class, said in a loud voice to attract the attention of his students. He looked equally confused as to who had shouted in the hallway but right now he had a lesson to teach. He knew the students were less than excited about their assignments but it didn't really matter. They were all going to learn more about each other and how to be better individuals.

"Whoever shouted in the hallway sounded like a desperate whore on crack," Kanma said loud enough for everyone to hear. Students began snickering while others looked genuinely horrified by the words coming out of Kanma's mouth. Iori noted that most of the guys were snickering while girls looked horrified. Iori did not understand why anyone was even reacting to Kanma's comments. It was inane to the extreme and had no bearing on their class assignment. Kanma could only smirk at everyone's reaction and leaned back into his chair so that it rested on only two chair legs. Iori frowned; he just didn't see what was so funny. 

"That's quite enough Daiyama," Mr. Muramaki said in a terse voice that sounded murderous in a subtle way. Kanma blew a raspberry to his teacher and many of his cohorts in the back of class began snickering. Mr. Muramaki twitched and turned his attention to the class, ignoring Kanma.

"All right everybody, time to get into groups. I have all ready had the liberty of assigning groups, this way none of you can be sitting together with your friends and slack off of work," Mr. Muramaki said as he walked around class and gave certain individuals the pre-arranged sitting plan on paper. Iori received one of the papers and looked at it with a critical eye before paling a bit and then rallying himself. Kanma's name was grouped along with Iori, along with three other individuals that Iori did not particularly like. 

One was a girl named Ayato Megumi, who had an older brother or something of the sort in the school. In all cases, she was a nice average girl with a complete utter obsession with some rock band of sorts. What were they called again? Something wolves? Teen wolves? It obviously was either some sort of obscure band that hadn't made it big yet or it was some sort of obscure girl reference for a cute guy. In either case, she was unbearable at times, as she always seemed to be sighing about a 'really cute blonde guy'. Iori debated for a second whether the main singer deliberately dyed his hair blonde like many teenagers out in Tokyo since it was in the current vogue or was a natural blonde. Iori decided it was the former. Who's ever heard of a natural blonde haired Japanese?

The next individual on the list was Hoji Ryota. A boy who was ... well... 'odd'. He insisted on calling Iori, 'Agares'. To be truthful, Ryota was not just a bit fascinated with the occult... He was completely obsessed about it. He had different names for every individual in class, including the teacher that was based on supernatural beings. For example, Hirota was called 'Mammon' and Kanma was called 'Byleth' while Ryota himself insisted that everyone call the teacher 'Gusoyn'. For all his strangeness, Ryota refused to name himself after any sort of supernatural creature and was quite adamant that everyone call him by his real name.

Iori wondered whether or not the teacher had decided to assign all the weird classmates into his group or at least all the obsessive ones of his class. He quickly looked down the list to the last name and saw that it was Matsudaira Yayoi. Iori let out a breath of relief when he saw her name. To his best of knowledge Yayoi was a very, very normal girl with no off the wall obsessions, quirks and such. Not that that put his mind at ease the slightest bit. He met Yayoi a few times and she didn't seem like the type to attract attention but he really didn't know what to expect of her.

"Now remember class, the entire point of this exercise is to make you get to know each other better. Socializing with other people in the future will be very important when you grow up," Mr. Muramaki said. The lists had been all passed out and students got up from their seats to look for their assigned groups. Iori took the opportunity to place the list in the middle of his desk and pull some empty tables together for his group.

"Thanks Agares," Ryota said as he read off his name from the list and sat down at the table. His brown eyes languidly looked up at the ceiling and were very picture of laziness as he sprawled over his chair carelessly. He was so intent on the ceiling that he failed to notice Megumi bounding towards him.

"Ryota-kun!" Megumi said in a far too cheerful voice. Iori silently wondered who had given her sugar again but stopped thinking about it since there were far too many people who could have. The cheerful voice was rather grating on Iori's ears and he suppressed the urge to grimace. Ryota on the other hand ignored Megumi without even reacting at all and simply stared at Megumi before returning his gaze to the ceiling. Megumi pouted for a moment and then grabbed a chair right next to the boy. She twittered every now and then and hummed a happy little ditty.

BADA BADA BADA BADA

The sound of running feet was heard again. The class in the midst of getting in their groups stopped for a brief moment to listen but there was only silence after pounding of feet and Megumi's humming. Iori grabbed a few chairs and slid them to his group. Kanma took the opportunity to come up to the group and read the list. Seeing his name on it, Kanma gave Iori a glare, which Iori patently ignored and took a seat at the table. Realizing that Iori was not paying attention to Kanma in the slightest bit, he sat down but continued to give Iori murderous looks every now and then. The group waited patiently for the last member of their group to join them. Everyone in class was in-group of fives for the activity and Iori noted that almost no one was talking. The sound of running feet from the hallway was no longer heard and there was no strange shouting either, much to Iori's relief. He wasn't sure if he could stand hearing Miyako's voice at the moment.

Yayoi finally came to the group and read her name off the list and joined at the table. She was a shy looking girl in a simple dress and her long brown hair had two hair clips. She had been milling around the class looking lost until she came to the group finally.

"Um... Hi..." Yayoi said in a soft voice. Iori noted that it sounded as if she was worried that by simply speaking, she was going to offend someone. It was the tone of voice someone would use if they were afraid of something. It was almost exactly how Hirota spoke.

"What are we supposed to be doing right now?" Ryota said as he brought his chair down to the ground. The chair landed with a thud and he let his bored eyes carry over the assembled group.

"I think we're supposed to 'talk' or something," Megumi said in that same obscenely cheerful voice. Kanma looked ready to become sick and was probably debating whether or not to track down the person who had given Megumi sugar before class started and kill him or her.

"Just how much sugar did you eat, Thalia?" Ryota asked. He raised an eyebrow and waited for an answer. The people in the group waited for Megumi to say something. They didn't have to wait all to long for an answer.

"I didn't have any sugar this morning! Not much! A bit!... Okay! Lots, lots, lots! Jolt cola! And uber-pockey before class!" Megumi answered in a mile a minute way. She said her words so quickly that it took Iori a few seconds to make sense of what she just said.

"Um... Okay..." Ryota said with his eyes wide open with fear. He quickly moved his chair away from Megumi. Yayoi just looked shocked along with Kanma.

"Jolt cola and uber-pockey..." Yayoi said in a fairly dazed voice. Her face was blank with the realization of just how much sugar that Megumi had consumed before class.

"Damn... That's more sugar than I've ever eaten in a single sitting..." Kanma said in an awed voice. He also moved his chair away from Megumi.

"Okay... You're no longer Thalia... You're now called Hotei;"Ryota said when he finished moving as far away as possible from Megumi.

"... Isn't Hotei a guy?" Yayoi asked a bit baffled.

"Guy. Girl. What does it really matter when you're talking about a sugar high person?" Ryota answered.

"Point..." Kanma muttered under his breath.

Iori cleared his throat to get everyone's attention though he eyed Megumi with worry. Megumi noted the concerned look on Iori's face and made a soppy face.

"Wai! Iori-chan looks so cute when worried!" Megumi said in a hyper voice.

"More like terrified..." Yayoi said in a sagely voice. Her purple eyes looked up at Iori before looking away. Iori didn't notice since he was far too busy paying attention to other things.

Iori grimaced when Megumi called him with 'chan' affixed to his name in her hyper voice. Gods above, if there were any, he hated hyper people. Give him paranoid, depressing people any time of the day. 

Iori turned to look around the class and saw Hirota at a table. Hirota was practically trying to hide under the table or something like that and looked around the classroom with abject paranoia. Catching Iori's gaze, Hirota proceeded to hide his head under his arms.

'Okay... Perhaps not paranoid but depressing I can handle,' Iori thought to himself privately as he turned away from Hirota.

"It says on the paper that we should start the conversation by telling each other our names," Iori said in a monotone voice.

"Why?" Kanma asked.

"Because it says so right here..." Iori answered. He picked up the piece of paper to read what was written.

"Why?" Kanma asked.

"... You're doing that to annoy me aren't you?" Iori asked.

"Yes," Kanma answered.

"Why?"

".... I'm not answering that..." 

"Why?"

Everyone at the table began chuckling while Kanma looked angry. Iori could only smirk a bit before making his face perfectly blank and put down the piece of paper.

"Okay, I'll start. I'm Hida Iori."

"You are not. You're 'Agares'," Ryota interjected. Iori ignored him and waited for the next person to introduce himself or herself.

"Matsudaira Yayoi," Yayoi said in a modest tone of voice. She gave Ryota a pained smile but that didn't stop him.

"You're 'Melpomene'," Ryota insisted in an annoyed tone of voice. He looked fairly grumpy and Yayoi seemed to retract to that of a scared rabbit. Ryota winced and looked sheepish.

"... Sorry..." Ryota said quickly to Yayoi. She brightened a bit but still looked weary.

"Aya~to Me~gu~mi!" Megumi said in a sing song voice and made everyone want to hurl. Other people in different groups gave sympathetic looks to the group. Megumi was well known for her exploits while under a sugar high. Such exploits included dancing on tabletops, bursting out into songs, though admittedly she was a good singer and dancer, and fawning over an unfortunate victim, of which annoyed the hell out of even the patient and understanding individual (i.e. Iori and Mr. Muramaki, the teacher).

"You're 'Hotei'! 'Hotei', damn it!" Ryota said angry at the fact no one went by the names he assigned them by. He also seemed very disconcerted by the look Megumi was giving him. He silently hoped that he was not the chosen 'victim' of the dreaded sugar high. Though admittedly there were going to be casualties anyways because of this.

"Daiyama Kanma," Kanma said tersely.

"No! You're 'Byleth'!" Ryota insisted and gave Kanma an enraged glare. Of which Kanma returned with full measure and a gleam in the eye that promised much pain if he did not desist. Ryota stopped but he looked rather annoyed at everyone and was muttering himself about how weird the people in the group were.

"Um... Hoji-san... It's your turn," Yayoi said in a quiet voice. 

"Hoji Ryota," Ryota said quickly.

"Well, we should call you a weird name since you insist that everyone go by the names you give us," Kanma said annoyed.

"No! You will call me Hoji Ryota and nothing else," Ryota insisted with extreme vehemence.

"Why do you insist calling us weird names but we can't call you weird names?" Megumi asked while sliding over towards Ryota. Everyone in the group pitied Ryota at that moment. It seemed the Megumi had finally chosen her next victim and that victim was Ryota.

Alarmed by the close proximity of Megumi, Ryota attempted back as far away from Megumi as possible but couldn't since Iori sat right next Ryota and wouldn't budge. It looked hopeless for Ryota, until Megumi did something very unexpected. She turned attention on Yayoi and the normally passive girl was very picture of panic as Megumi moved closer to Yayoi. Yayoi looked at Iori expecting him to do something but he looked far too baffled to really realize what Yayoi wanted him to do exactly.

"Oh Yayoi-chan! You're giving Iori-chan the 'look'," Megumi said in a far too suggestive voice.

"What?! She's giving what to Hida, the 'I need a better hair cut' and 'I'm too much of a stuck up bastard to know you', Iori?" Kanma asked in a deliberately loud voice to attract more attention to the group. Iori began to grind his teeth and slipped into his small, and very familiar, fantasy world of him strangling Kanma. Yes, Iori knew that he needed a better haircut but he's family wasn't exactly very rich. His mother cut his hair to save money and he did not see anything wrong with it, it just happened to be a bad haircut made by his mother. Yayoi blushed a deep crimson and tried to sink into the ground but it didn't work.

"I... I... I..." Yayoi said in a struggling voice.

"Don't worry Yayoi-chan! Your secret safe with me," Megumi said in a bright voice.

"I don't think it's much of a secret any more..." Ryota commented as he noted everyone in the class had overheard Kanma's reaction.

"No way... Iori?..."

"Iori has a girlfriend?... Man... That's way too weird..."

"Ew... Doesn't she know boys have cooties!"

Those were just a few things said in class. Mr. Muramaki however did not want his class to stray off topic and began banging on his desk with a meter stick.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Everyone settle down! You're all supposed to be getting to know each other... And Daiyama, apologize!" Mr. Muramaki said in a very cross voice.

Kanma smiled every so innocently and looked at the teacher like a picture perfect student. No one believed it for a second.

"Why, whatever do you mean, sir? What did I do wrong?" Kanma said a perfectly innocent tone of voice. Iori noted that Kanma probably had a lot of practice if he could pull off such a convincing tone. Too bad that no one in the class, and certainly no teacher, would believe it in any case.

"You know what I mean!" Mr. Muramaki said in an aggravated tone.

"But I haven't done anything wrong," Kanma insisted.

"Stop..." Yayoi said in a quiet voice. 

Everyone in the room stopped chatting and listened. The usually silent Yayoi was actually speaking out, that was something very unusual for her.

".... There's no need to apologize for any of this... Can we just get on with our work?" Yayoi continued. She seemed ready to die of embarrassment.

"See? Even she says there's nothing for me to be sorry about. No cigar, teach," Kanma said arrogantly. He gave Yayoi a wolfish smile and gave Iori a look. The teacher was not amused and went over to the table.

"Get up! You're going to sit right next to Hida for the rest of this activity. You will learn to be respectful to me Daiyama," Mr. Muramaki said in a cold voice.

'Why me?' Iori thought to himself as Kanma plopped down right next to him. It was at that moment that Iori really disliked the teacher's judgement. This was probably the worst thing the teacher had done to him since Iori was asked to take care of the class hamster. Iori accidentally caused the class hamster, Kikuchi, to escape when he was cleaning its cage. They found the hamster a few days latter... Well, what was left of him when the neighbourhood cats were done with it. Not that Iori liked the stupid rodent or felt sorry for it. The thing had taken a liking to biting him when he tried to pick Kikuchi up.

"Me? Disrespect you? Why would I ever do that?" Kanma said sarcastically.

"I want no lip from you Daiyama."

"Fine. I do so hope to get know Hida-san better."

With that Kanma smirked and Iori felt banging his head on the desk in frustration. Kanma was the last person he wanted to get know better.

******

Lunchtime, never did such a time seem like a godsend to Iori until now. Class had been hell with all its assorted demons to plague him. It was a trying day with Ryota acting weird, Megumi was particularly 'happy' and mushy around Iori, Yayoi paralysed with embarrassment and Kanma being an overall jerk. In other words, taking into context what Iori's regular school life was, it was a normal day. Not that that made it any easier for Iori to bear and he waited at his desk for today's kitchen crew to bring up lunch.

Iori used this moment of calm to collect his nerves and what was left of his patience. Megumi and Kanma had nearly succeeded in shattering it to little pieces and Iori had very little time to start cobble it up again. The only thing that made this day a bit more bearable was the fact that Kanma was going to punished for all his crimes. It was the thing that kept Iori going and help maintain his facade. The promised justice that he had fantasized for all so long and worked so hard to nurture. Everything that Kanma did to this morning only made Iori feel ever so eager for the end of school. Where all his suffering would finally be substantiated and satiated, like cool water to a person who went through the desert. Yet his stomach clenched in an odd way as he thought about it, again.

Kanma on the other hand was on the other side of the class with a bunch of his lackeys. They talked in hushed voices and occasionally looked towards Iori every now and then. It was enough to make Iori slightly paranoid though he knew that they couldn't possible know about his plans. Or did they? Hirota didn't seem like the type to squeal since he had absolutely no loyalty or concern for Kanma's well being. Iori found himself thinking about what would happen if Kanma found about his meeting with Hirota this morning. There were various potentially painful possibilities and possible situations; it made Iori all the more determined not to screw up.

The plan was actually fairly inelegant, now that Iori thought about it more, but it was simple. Simplicity meant less chance of a serious screw up. Ambush Kanma in a deserted area and beat the crap out of him with a bokken. There, that was his brilliant plan and yes he knew it was rather stupid but stupid works. Besides, Kanma didn't deserve special effort or planning since all he could understand was brute force. Stomach began to clench again and Iori grimaced.

Why did he feel so uneasy all of a sudden? Every time he thought about what he was going to do to Kanma today, his stomach clenched. At first Iori dismissed it as a case of misguided nervousness but the more he thought about it, the more it came to light that what he was going to do was not justice. It was revenge born out of emotions of hate and frustration at what had been done to him by Kanma. That didn't change the fact his stomach was beginning to hurt a bit.

'And if you wrong me, shall I not avenge? If I am like you in the rest, I will resemble you in that. The villainy you teach me I will execute,' Iori quoted to himself. Doubt began seed itself and rail against Iori's resolve to commit to what he had planned. His stomach pain was probably due to the fact that he was hungry or at least so he hoped.

Iori looked down on his desk and stared at it, not noticing what was going on around him. He was busy thinking and was lost upon the world; it did not matter and did not intrude on his concentration. Iori never noticed that his fellow classmates were getting up when lunch had arrived and were starting to line up for their servings. No one bothered Iori, who hadn't notice that it was time to eat, except for Yayoi who noticed that Iori was the only person sitting down in the class. Hesitating for a moment and then advancing, she came up to Iori. He was deadly still and his face was locked into a look of faraway reverie, at first she wondered if Iori had died while sitting up but she noticed that he was breathing.

"Hida-san.... Lunch is here..." Yayoi's soft voice said at first. Iori didn't hear her and was still staring at the surface of his desk. He never noticed Yayoi standing beside his desk trying to get his attention... Or Ryota calmly stealing some of Iori's food... Or Megumi bringing out a small box of uber-pockey for her consumption... Or Kanma who motioned a few of his friends away to act as a look out for the teacher.

"Hida-san?"

"Huh?" Iori managed as he slowly realized that someone was talking to him. Yayoi smiled softly at Iori and made him sputter a bit. No one, ever except perhaps for Miyako, bothered to talk to him without prompting. It surprised him and left him a bit embarrassed. Was there a trend out there for people to smile at him and make him feel like an idiot? 

"Um... Lunch is here," Yayoi pointed out to the large pots of curry and rice that was being set up at the front of the class. The smell of food made Iori's stomach rumble and he managed to smooth out his face a bit.

"Thank you Matsudaira-san, I didn't notice," Iori said politely and got out of his desk. Yayoi smiled at Iori, which caused him to look rather foolish. He just didn't know what else to do or say, he wasn't used to people who smiled at him. It reminded him of Miyako with her incessant happy smile but the one Yayoi gave him was more poignant. Iori wondered what made the difference between Yayoi's smile and Miyako's smile for a moment. There was something shadowed on Yayoi's face but Iori didn't understand or truly see what it was. What was that Murphy's law he heard before, regarding smiles? Oh yeah, now he remembered.

Smile, it makes people wonder what you are thinking. 

"So... Um... I was wondering whether you wanted to eat lunch together or something..." Yayoi continued.

'Where did that come from? I mean... ' Iori thought as he began to scratch the back of his neck while trying to decide what to say next. There was something definitely troubling Yayoi or at least making her a bit sad. Despite what people said about him, no he was not a heartless person. It was simply that he was the worst person to turn to when it came to emotional problems. He also noted that Yayoi just offered to eat lunch with him. Something that no one had ever asked him to do or even think about considering. For a moment Iori felt very, very happy. A feeling that didn't come very often.

"What Hida? You have one girlfriend all ready and now you're after another? When did you become such a lady-killer and two-timer?" Kanma called out in a sneering voice. He swaggered over to where Yayoi was and draped one of his arms around her shoulders almost affectionately but his face told a different story. The eyes on Kanma's face dripped with malevolence and he tightened his grip on Yayoi's shoulder to the point she was cringing in pain.

'He's deliberately hurting her...' Iori thought. The small feeling of happiness was crushed underfoot and a feeling of cold hate was replaced by it.

That was the last straw for Iori. Kanma was an idiot, a braggart and bully that needed to be stopped. All that Iori learned about Kanma during this morning's activity just enforced that image in Iori's mind.

"Let her go, she's done absolutely nothing to you..." Iori said in a deadly quiet voice.

This brought the class to attention and Iori went completely blank in the face. It wasn't because he was embarrassed at the possibility of what his other fellow students were thinking but rather because Iori was now furious. How dare Kanma involve a bystander into their enmity? Did Kanma have any sort of conscience or scruples when it came to trying to harm him? Iori forgot all doubt and arguments against showing Kanma any sort of mercy after school. His plan would proceed without delay, come hell or high water. Kanma looked rather surprised by Iori's soft murderous tone of voice but buoyed his confidence with the fact that the teacher was no where in sight and Iori had no one to help back him up.

"Well aren't you chivalrous?" Kanma said in a light voice as he let go of Yayoi. He took a step up to Iori and looked down on the shorter boy. Iori damned his height at that brief moment because Kanma was much taller than he was. Iori only reached up to the neck of his enemy and despite what some people said about fights. 

Size _does_ matter.

"I don't want to fight you," Iori said.

'Because I want to fight in a place of my choice and where I get the first strike,' Iori added silently.

"Of course you don't want to fight me! You're such a good little teacher's pet and a 'perfect' student! Why ever would you think of breaking a precious rule of this school?" Kanma said sarcastically. Yayoi backed away from Kanma as soon as he let go and made sure she was out of their way. Yayoi eyes were pained but luckily Megumi quietly offered her an uber-pockey to try and comfort her. The dreaded sugar high seemed to have left Megumi's face but everyone was more focused on the confrontation between Iori and Kanma.

"Strange... I thought I was a demon that capture the souls of sinners who try to escape from hell," Iori said in a self-depreciating voice. There was underlining of bitterness in it that dripped from every word. Ryota once explained fully what Agares meant and did.

'He was sort like a demonic police officer of the third infernal plane, kind of like your dad. I mean in the sense they captured bad guys and rendered punishment,' Ryota's explained in an overly happy voice. All too eager to explain the meaning and background of each name he gave to every student in class.

'How very appropriate... A demon who recaptures the souls of sinners and the damned for punishment,' Iori thought to himself as he stared down Kanma. The thought did not please him nor did it upset him. If he had to be a demon to punish the guilty, then so be it.

"Teacher's coming!" Gunro called out as he closed the door to the classroom quickly. He waddled under his impressive girth to the lunch line to pretend that nothing was happening in class. Kanma looked up and then quickly departed from Iori but he stopped right in front of Megumi and Yayoi. Kanma pushed Megumi away and made sure she was well away before bending down to whisper something in Yayoi's ear that Iori couldn't hear.

"You'd better not tell anyone about this... And that means all of you!" Kanma said as he straightened his back and walked away from Yayoi who looked ready to cry.

Iori increased his grip on the edges of his desk until it hurt before sitting down in his chair. He sat there looking surly and gritted his teeth in anger. He looked up to see how Yayoi was doing and noted she looked quietly upset now and Megumi was talking to Yayoi softly.

'I guess that means I can't eat lunch with her...' Iori thought to himself despondently.

Yayoi didn't look Iori's way or talk to him again. The teacher arrived oblivious to what had happened in his class, he had stepped out for only five minutes, and supervised everyone as they ate lunch. It seemed that everything was normal but it wasn't. People were putting more effort into avoiding Iori, not that that was a big surprise, and Yayoi stayed close to Megumi, who tried to cheer Yayoi up. Occasionally Megumi saw it fit to give Kanma and Iori a glare but Iori didn't see why Megumi would be angry at him.

Iori was never spoken to again by anyone for the rest of the school day. On the bright side, his stomach didn't hurt any more.

***(Science lab... 2:30 p.m.)***

Daisuke was skipping class. Actually that was a lie, his teacher Muzaki Isoko had given him permission to go to the science lab with a partner to finish up a science project. There was supposed to be a teacher with them but Daisuke neglected, i.e. was too lazy, to get a teacher to supervise them. After all, what could possible happen? The project in itself was a simple chemical reaction that was small and most definitely not explosive like some of things that Miyako did.

Unfortunately his partner, Kirone Sainjyou thought differently. It took a lot of wheedling and begging on Daisuke's part for him to go along with what Daisuke wanted to do. He got a feeling that Sainjyou was not very happy about the arrangement of things and very worried as well. His partner's eyes often widened with shock or fear every time Daisuke guessed what the chemical was and put it into the pot. It was a rather haphazard way of doing the experiment but was the difference between cobalt and ammonium compounds or tetra bromine bisphenol A? It wasn't as if any of the chemicals being used were dangerous or poisonous. Ms. Muzaki demanded that Daisuke use harmless and benign chemicals for his experiment. Or at least the approximation of harmless and benign chemicals, Daisuke wasn't a genius or particularly knowledgeable of what was truly dangerous and what was not but he'd rather not fail in science, thank you very much.

Sainjyou tried not to panic as he scribbled down furiously what Daisuke, his science partner, was throwing into a bubbling morass of chemicals on top of a Bunsen burner. It was near impossible task, he soon found out. It wasn't because Daisuke was annoying or stupid, it was because when Daisuke screwed up... He screwed up in a really bad way.

'What has he all ready put into this thing?' Sainjyou thought to himself as Daisuke threw in another random chemical into the mix.

"I think that was some salt... Now I'll put in some..." Daisuke said as he threw in some sort of white powder into the stew.

"You _think _that was salt?" Sainjyou asked incredulously. He twitched as Daisuke grabbed another random chemical and threw it into the pot.

"Yeah! I mean it was white and stuff, so it has to be salt... or it could be sugar..." Daisuke said thoughtfully as he held a small glass vial of some sort bluish liquid in his hand. He shrugged and then opened the vial and dumped it's entire content into the pot. The stew of chemicals immediately began to curdle and become solid. Sainjyou frowned and quietly wondered what kind of chemical reaction was happening to make... whatever Daisuke was doing.

'I've never heard of anything solidifying in a chemical project like this...' Sainjyou thought to himself.

"Whoa... That's not supposed to happen... At least the book told me it's not supposed to happen..." Daisuke said trailing off before putting down the empty glass vial.

"Daisuke... Can I ask you a question?" Sainjyou asked nervously. Somehow he got a feeling that he was going to regret asking.

"Yeah, shoot..."

"What are you trying do?"

"Hmm... Oh that... I read it up in a really cool book somewhere but I couldn't find it and bring it in."

"... So what you're trying to tell me is... You make me skip class with you to do this... 'project' and you don't know what you're making and you also don't know what exact chemicals you're supposed to use?"

"No... Well not all of it but I'm sure I know most of the chemicals and how much it's supposed to be added."

'Must... Not... Strangle... Daisuke," Sainjyou thought to himself as he hand began twitching and he looked a bit too closely at Daisuke's tanned neck. Daisuke looked rather baffled as his partner seemed to have developed a nervous twitch but the bell luckily rang. It was now 2:40 p.m. and next up was gym class.

"All right! Let's get this thing off the burner and let it sit to cool!" Daisuke said quickly. He got out some heat absorbent gloves and picked up the pot to place on a heat tray. He was eager to get this over with and go to his favorite class.

"Daisuke... Maybe we should throw that... thing out," Sainjyou said in a nervous voice. Was it his imagination or did the pot's content begin to move a bit?

"Nonsense! We'll just put this in the classroom and let it cool. Tomorrow I'll present and everything will be okay!" Daisuke crowed as he walked towards the door with his project. Sainjyou opened and shut his mouth as he tried to think of a way to convince Daisuke out of a very stupid situation. He just knew, knew, that whatever Daisuke created was pure unabashed evil.... Or, at least, very disastrous.

"Stop right there!" Sainjyou barked out and stomped his way over to Daisuke.

Daisuke froze at the door and waited for Sainjyou to arrive.

"What?" Daisuke asked baffled.

"How are you going to present if you don't even know what you made?" Sainjyou demanded.

"Ah.. Well... I thought I would wing it, you know that I hate science."

"Daisuke, let's just throw whatever you made away and ask for a another day to finish the project up okay? I mean, I'm not even sure what you made is even safe."

"No way! The teacher will give me a zero for the project and you know that I need all the points I can get!"

"Wonderful... I just had to partnered with a jock and stubborn fool."

"You make jock sound like a dirty word... And I'm not stubborn..."

"But..."

Daisuke smiled a winning smile and Sainjyou didn't know what to say next. Instead Daisuke walked out the door and then stopped out in the hallway to give Sainjyou a happy look.

"Look... I appreciate the concern and your help but I assure you. Nothing bad is going to happen. This little thing is as harmless as it gets," Daisuke said.

"But... But," Sainjyou sputtered.

"You better get to gym or the old crone will get concerned. I'm going to put this in the classroom, you tell her I'll be along in a second."

With that Daisuke went to class leaving a speechless Sainjyou in the doorway of the science lab. It took a few seconds but Sainjyou began knocking his head into the doorway a few times when Daisuke was out of sight.

"Stupid... Stupid... Stupid..." Sainjyou said with every hit to the doorway with his head. He just knew that this was a bad idea but he went to gym class.

Daisuke placed his ill-conceived project in his empty classroom, right by the window where the class plants were before running out the classroom for gym. If Daisuke stayed for a few minutes and watched his project a bit closely, he would have seen that the sunlight was making his project grow. It seemed to take a very nice liking to the class plants and began 'eating' them, so to speak. It just kept on growing and began to spill over to the floor. The chlorophyll in the plants colored the gunk green as it grew.

Forty minutes latter when gym class was over and everyone returned to the classroom to pick up their things and leave for home or where ever they intended to go. Daisuke's science project had finally taken a life of it's own. It became the green blob of epic proportions and was now trying to eat some of the books in the shelves beneath the window.

"MOTOMIYA DAISUKE!!!" Muzaki Isoko shouted in rage. Her voice could be heard all over the school causing many students who were getting ready to leave, to pause and look baffled. It also carried out into the gym where Daisuke was busy helping Hikari put away much of the gym equipment with some other people. When they all heard Muzaki's voice, they couldn't help but look at Daisuke. Noting their stares Daisuke immediately went on the defensive.

"Why are you all staring at me like that? I didn't do nothing! I swear!"


	3. What Are Friends For?

AU fanfic. About a little less than a year before the events of 02. I haven't really given much thought upon the date.  
Thus Miyako is grade 5, Daisuke and Hikari is in Grade 4 and Iori is in Grade 2.

***At the end of the day***

Rumors rang throughout the school when classroom 4-1 was sealed and watched by various onlookers. No one except for twelve individuals knew what was inside the classroom. In any case Muzaki, the teacher, was in a rage and personally went in, to evacuate the backpacks in the classrooms to prevent whatever strange thing was in the class, from ruining students' personal effects. Some claimed that the thing was a chemistry project gone bad, others said it was prank involving stink bombs and others claimed that it was an infamous digimon occupying the class. This last particular rumor brought droves of curious students and teachers to class 4-1 to try and find out if it was true. Muzaki could only roll her eyes at the idea of a digimon in her classroom. Whoever started that particular rumor had an overactive imagination or was deliberately poisoning the rumor mill with false information. It was starting to get on Muzaki's nerve and no matter how much she explained it, people kept on coming. 

Iori walked past the classroom without a single look or even stopping. The situation simply did not interest him and the chance that a digimon was in the classroom was slim to nil. Most of all it didn't involve him and he did not care as long as no one was hurt. The crowd in the hallway impeded his movement greatly however and he frowned with annoyance as he squeezed his way through the crowd. He could faintly hear a teacher trying to talk over the babble incoherent conversation that was flying about. Bits and pieces like 'go home' or 'clear the hallway' or 'there is no digimon' or 'where is Motomiya Daisuke?'. Iori made a guess that Miyako's friend, Daisuke, had gotten into trouble and involved something not so nice. He could hear hushed voices in the crowd theorizing what was happening and how Daisuke was involved. Some of it was the most outrageous dribble he had ever heard and he did his best to ignore it. Iori eventually managed to get through the crowd without further problems and stopped at the front hall of the school to collect his street shoes.

"Good bye. Have a nice day Hida-san..." Matsudaira Yayoi said in her soft voice as she walked past Iori. Her face bore a sad smile and Iori found that he was looking at her strangely. No one had ever said good bye to him except for his mother, grandfather and, of course, the teachers. The sheer fact that someone said good bye to him politely at school, that was a fellow schoolmate of his, was unique to say none the least. Perhaps this was a sign of things to come...

"See you tomorrow Matsudaira-san," Iori said automatically. He put some effort into sounding a bit friendlier rather than just sounding polite. Yayoi smiled and bowed as she walked out the doors of the school, Iori looked into his locker and got out his shoes then the idea hit him.

Why not walk with her and find out what was wrong with her? After all, no one said anything to him unless there was a reason. Plus he had plenty of time before implementing his plan.

Iori quickly looked away from his locker and looked for Yayoi in the crowd but couldn't see the girl anywhere. Iori felt baffled, he only looked away for a few seconds and Yayoi had been walking very slowly but now he couldn't see her anywhere. He sighed and decided to count it as a lost opportunity but the question burned him to core. What was Matsudaira trying to do? He never talked to her before and he barely ever heard of her except from snippets of conversations he heard from Megumi, Ryota and strangely enough Kanma. So why start talking to him now? Could it be as Megumi hinted it might be? A crush?

Iori started chuckling at the ludicrous thought. Ryota right next to him by his own locker jumped in surprised. Ryota stopped to stare at Iori and Iori noticed.

"What?" Iori asked annoyed.

"... It's official Agares, the world must be ending or this is just a sign of worse things to come because you laughed," Ryota calmly explained in a sagely voice. Iori rolled his eyes and got his outdoor shoes on. His poker face set itself in with a nearly audible 'clink' as Iori forced all of his powers of concentration to the one task he had been looking forward to since this morning.

Operation Just Cause.

It took quite awhile to come up with that name...Okay that was a lie, he ripped it off from the American military but he wasn't picky.

***Computer lab***

"Homework... Homework.... Homework... Project... " Miyako said, first in a monotone voice and then screamed with frustration. 

"ARGH!!!"

Her teachers had once again conspired to make her life miserable by assigning a huge pile of homework to her. She struggled under the weight of the books she carried and tried to walk to the computer room but found it almost impossible. She couldn't reach the doorknob and peered over her books to see if there was anyone around to help her open the doors. Daisuke and Hikari were in the hallway talking to each other, or rather Daisuke was talking and Hikari was nodding every now and then.

"Yo! Daisuke! Get your ass over here!" Miyako shouted at him, stopping his conversation with Hikari. He turned around and saw Miyako struggle under the weight of her books.

"What?!" Daisuke shouted back annoyed. They both walked to Miyako whose arms were full of books.

"Open the door!" Miyako ordered. Daisuke frowned in annoyance.

"When did I become your slave Miyako?" He asked annoyed.

"Just right now. So open it will you?" Miyako snapped. Daisuke crossed his arms and gave Miyako the evil eye, which Miyako obligingly returned as well. 

"No," Daisuke answered.

Miyako was about say something but Hikari opened the door for Miyako instead as she was about unleash a verbal whipping on Daisuke.

"Here you go," Hikari said politely and smiled softly. Miyako blinked in surprise and stared at Hikari for a moment.

"Oh... thanks... But you really should have let Daisuke open the door... It forces him to learn manners," Miyako said as she walked into the room.

"What? I'm not rude am I?" Daisuke asked Hikari who simply blinked.

"Well you are loud and a 'bit' rude," Hikari pointed out.

"Figures! Everyone's against me," Daisuke said pouting. Miyako had placed her books on the table in the computer room and went up to Daisuke to pat him on the cheek.

"There, there Dai-chan. It's not just everyone against you," Miyako said in a patronizing voice.

"Really?" Daisuke asked.

"The entire universe is against you... Sorry but you just can't win," Miyako said in teasing voice. Daisuke just glared at Miyako but she turned her attention on Hikari.

"So you're the one Daisuke keeps on talking about," Miyako said in a faintly impressed voice. It was rather vague and Hikari wondered what Miyako meant by that.

"I'm Yagami Hikari," Hikari introduced herself.

"Inoue Miyako..." Miyako answered off-handily and turned to face Daisuke remembering something.

"Aren't you supposed to be in Muzaki-sensei's classroom? You need to clean off that 'surprise' you did for your chemistry project before she comes to look for you... Don't tell me you forgot?" Miyako asked. Daisuke's face paled for a moment.

"Oh shit! I forgot..." Daisuke said and then that's when all three of them heard a bellowing voice that carried surprisingly well throughout the school. Whoever had built the school obviously didn't expect sound to travel throughout the school so well.

"MOTOMIYA DAISUKE! WHERE ARE YOU!!! ARGH!!" A frustrated female voice caused Daisuke to try and hide behind Hikari.

"Ack! Save me Hikari-chan!" Daisuke begged. He heard the sounds of stomping feet come up the stairs and saw the dreaded Muzaki Isoko, the demon teacher of grade 4. She was actually an attractive woman but her red face and scowl dispelled any notion of beauty and replaced the feeling with that of cool fear and abject terror. Miyako and Daisuke cringed in fear while Hikari just raised an eyebrow, impressed by the sight of the teacher. She wasn't afraid like Daisuke and Miyako was and simply stood her ground. Though she had to admit the teacher were one of the scarier individuals she had met.

"Hello Muzaki-sensei," Hikari said pleasantly. She bowed politely and smiled to the teacher amused. Muzaki-sensei twitched a bit and glared at Daisuke who was hiding behind Hikari.

"Hello Yagami-kun... I need to talk to Daisuke for a moment," Muzaki said in a cool voice. Hikari could see a rather strange discoloured green spot on Muzaki's shoes and wondered what Daisuke had done exactly in the classroom. The door was locked and closed, but she managed to get her backpack from one of her friends. The rumor mill was going into overdrive since apparently only a select few people got to see what was in class 4-1 but it was so warped and modified no one knew what was true or not.

"Sorry! I'll clean it up! I swear!" Daisuke squeaked and tried to look innocent. Unfortunately Muzaki was a veteran teacher of ten years and she was immune to such looks that Daisuke was giving.

"Yes... You'll be cleaning up my classroom for the next month also if you don't get it cleaned in an hour! Now get down there and clean off that green gunk!" Muzaki said in a tightly controlled voice. Daisuke deflated and realized that his teacher had just given him an impossible task. Hikari saw the look on Daisuke's face and pitied him; she probably was going to end up regretting what she was going to say next.

"I'll help if you don't mind," Hikari said. At that Daisuke perked up and smiled. Not only could he avoid cleaning duties for an entire month but also now he got to spend more time with Hikari. The universe was not against him as Miyako said it was. Muzaki frowned and looked at Hikari.

"I'm not sure if you'd want to. It's a really disgusting mess down there," Muzaki said and then glared at Daisuke who shrank behind Hikari even more.

"I don't mind," Hikari said but inwardly she wondered what Daisuke did that got Muzaki so steamed. It was probably something unpleasant.

"All right then. The cleaning supplies are in room 212 and I want it cleaned in an hour, or else you two will be on cleaning duty for an entire month," Muzaki said relenting. Daisuke's eyes widened at the mention that if the clean up was not done in an hour that he and Hikari would have to do cleaning duty together. Imagine, an entire month with Hikari alone... cleaning up the classroom. The fantasy deflated and Daisuke felt a bit depressed. He hated cleaning duty and Muzaki-sensei knew it. He was torn between not having to do cleaning duty for a month or having it with Hikari for a month. Muzaki stormed down the hallway to the teacher's bathroom. It was then that all three of them saw a glob of some sort green goo on the teacher's back and winced as one. Hikari now really regretted volunteering to help clean the classroom with Daisuke but the poor guy had the face of a doomed prisoner on death row that she couldn't help but take pity on him.

"Okay... Come on Motomiya-kun," Hikari said and shook his arm lightly to get him out of his funk. Daisuke came to life and smiled. He held Hikari's hand and smiled like an idiot, nodding all the while. 

"Sure let's go," Daisuke said holding onto Hikari's hand. Hikari blinked in surprised as Daisuke refused to let go.

"Uh... See you latter Inoue-san..." Hikari said as she was dragged away by Daisuke. Miyako just shook her head in disbelief and wondered when Daisuke was going to get over his silly little crush on Yagami. She entered the computer room and then stared at the stack of homework she had on the table. The pile seemed to get bigger as she stared at it and Miyako frowned. She went up to the window and looked out the window out the world. From her vantage point she saw Iori walking away from the school. She watched the diminutive child walk away until he turned the corner where she could no longer see him.

"Sorry I'm late," Koushiro said as he entered the computer room. Miyako turned around to see a short red haired boy walk into the computer room with his ever present pineapple laptop. He smiled apologetically to Miyako who in turn smiled predatorily back. Alarm bells rang in Koushiro's head but before he had any opportunity to raise his defenses, Miyako charged up to him and gave him a glomp.

"Izumi-chan!" Miyako said rather happily. Koushiro turned red and fidgeted nervously as Miyako held him. When she finally let go Koushiro looked ready to faint dead with embarrassment.

God she loved that look on Koushiro's face after she gave him customary glomp. She could never get tired of seeing him twitch nervously and smile like an idiot after she gave it to him. It was unbelievably cute; Miyako could only snicker as Koushiro coughed lightly. His brain, which had melted down during Miyako's glomp, was now reforming itself.

"Ah... Um... Eh..." Koushiro said as he tried to form words. His brain had not quite recovered yet and was still thunderstruck.

"Think of each word before saying it," Miyako said as she sat down in her chair with a flourish. She smiled benevolently back at Koushiro who seemed even more of a nervous wreck than usual because of her smile. Koushiro desperately needed to get himself more well-acquainted with the opposite sex, but until then Miyako was going to torment him.

"... Um... Do you have to do that to me every day?" Koushiro asked finally recovering.

"Why do you ask? You want me to do it more often?" Miyako asked sweetly.

******

Iori needed scout ahead for his plans to be made feasible, after all what's the point of going out to have revenge if you don't know where your victim is going to? He walked past Abaraki Park and beyond the familiar playground that he visited only yesterday but took no account of it. He would get home latter and see if he had the necessary tools for his plans of vengeance. School had not been good today and Kanma seemed bent on hurting Iori more than ever but Iori didn't fear any of his threats. After all Kanma wasn't stupid or brave enough to try something in school while a teacher was watching. Iori had no homework to work on and kendo lessons tonight would end at six p.m. More than enough time for Iori to prepare and rest before leaving his apartment. But where was subway number 20? Iori stopped at a photo kiosk and picked out a subway map. Running his eyes over it, he managed to see where the subway was. Iori looked around where he was to get him bearing and managed to see Kanma and bunch of his friends together just in time. Iori walked into a crowd of people waiting to cross the street to hide away from the group and observe them from afar. Iori could see Hirota in the group carrying five backpacks that obviously belonged to the bullies. They were making Hirota their pack mule and took turns kicking or pushing him for the hell of it. Hirota looked terrified and could only numbly nod when they looked his way and insult him. Iori felt disgusted and resisted the urge to simply walk over and get Hirota out of the situation but the problem was that he was alone against six other guys and Hirota would do nothing to help. Iori had no choice but to wait and pick them off one at a time at another time, starting with their ringleader Kanma of course. It was painful however to watch Hirota struggle under the weight of the backpacks that he was carrying and the abuse he was suffering but Iori hardened his heart and focused his mind on finding subway twenty. With great reluctance Iori turned away and began looking.

Eventually as Iori traveled around, he began to worry. There were cameras everywhere and Iori felt uncomfortable. He stopped counting at twelve and that didn't include the ones that he knew about from his father's old police friends. There was too many of them along the path that Kanma took to go to Subway 20, it boggled Iori's mind. Iori discarded Subway 20 as a possible ambush site and decided that another site was required. 

Iori reconsidered his position. He decided that he would have ambush Kanma at the sports fields near Abaraki Park near the school as Hirota suggested. It always pays to be prepared because Iori had no intention of getting caught. He didn't want to imagine what it would be like if he was caught, what would other people say? They would only shake their heads and mutter half-heartedly how unfortunate it was that he was caught. 

They would say 'did you hear about the Hida's son attacking another boy?' or 'I knew that boy was troubled. It's always the quiet ones that are the most dangerous'. Or some such pathetic drivel that sounded all so saddened and pitying. Truth was they probably delighted, in some foreign way, his faults, words and actions. There is always something wrong with that 'young boy' as they condescendingly stated. They were always watching him and judging him.

Damn what they all say, let them misjudge his actions. Justice is unalterable. Kanma is guilty for all his crimes.

"No man is ever innocent when his opponent is the judge," a soft voice from behind Iori intoned with a solemnity that he could never match. It surprised him utterly, he knew who it was but he didn't expect her to be right behind him.

"What are you talking about Matsudaira-san?" Iori asked calmly as he turned around to face Yayoi. He was honestly a bit startled; it just seemed a moment ago that she read his mind.

"...." It was indeed Yayoi but she said nothing now. Her purple eyes were cloudy and Iori could not read them in any sort of way. He could only sense a feeling of weariness and it was then that he realized she knew. He didn't how or why but somehow she knew what he was up to. There was no way or reason Hirota told Yayoi, this much Iori knew because Hirota never bothered talking to anyone in class, not even to the teacher unless forced to. Second reason was because he had been observing Yayoi for the entire day and she never came near Hirota. People ignored her completely, the only people in class that paid any sort of attention to her was Ryota, Kanma, Megumi and himself. That was all, no one else seemed to acknowledge her existence. Even the people, who walked around in the street barely paid any sort of attention to her, they walked around her absorbed in their own thoughts and actions. Therefore the only way that she could have known was that she was inside the building at the same time as he and Hirota had exchanged information. She had been spying on him but how she had spied on him was a mystery. There was no one in the hallways when he walked in them nor was there anyone in the classroom to overhear his conversation with Hirota.

Iori was now suspicious and observed Yayoi again. She was wearing the same clothing as she had been since the morning but he noticed her backpack was nowhere to be seen. Yayoi began walking and Iori followed trying to figure out how she had found out about his plans.

"Where's your backpack?" Iori asked inanely. He followed after Yayoi with her back in front of him, she didn't answer immediately and they both simply walked. Yayoi was in the lead and Iori was following closely behind. He quickly realized they were both walking towards Abaraki Park but said nothing. It was only when they were approaching the sports field of Abaraki Park that the silence was broken.

"Where it needs to be..." Yayoi answered quietly. Iori frowned and managed to match Yayoi's gait and walked beside her.

"That doesn't really answer much," Iori noted. Yayoi smiled a bit and Iori scrutinized Yayoi's face and found nothing that could clue him in as to what she was thinking about. It was impossible, it was like looking at a painting of Mona Lisa, and you have absolutely no idea what the lady was thinking or smiling about. 

It was Murphy's law in action. Smile, it makes people wonder what you're thinking.

"We're kids who don't act their age... I always did want to meet you earlier Hida-san but I never had the chance until today," Yayoi said. Iori was nonplussed and remained quiet, he was trying to figure out a way to question her without letting her know what he was trying to find out. Yayoi continued to speak without showing any concern with Iori's silence.

"You remind so much like another angry boy. I sometimes think that perhaps you and him could be good friends."

Iori gave a start and then let out a weary sigh. Somehow Yayoi did not anger him with her words, she didn't pity him. Rather she saw what he was going to do and stating what she thought. It was a big difference from what he was used to hearing from people. What he usually heard was an order or judgement, 'you shouldn't hurt him' or 'you should be nice' or 'what a strange boy'. People always told him what to do, what not to do or how to do something. A welcome change from the usual.

"Who are you talking about?" Iori asked.

"About Kanma and you," Yayoi said as if the friendship between enemies was something natural and pleasant. Iori gagged and tried to imagine how Kanma could be remotely similar to him. He drew up a blank because he was not a bully. He was not an idiot. He was not cruel. He was in no way anything like Kanma. There was no similarity and Iori felt mildly insulted by Yayoi's rather baseless assumption that there was something similar between him and Kanma.

"What?" Iori just barely managed to ask. Yayoi stopped walking and Iori noticed they had both walked to Abaraki Park far faster than he had expected. They were on the playing field side of the place and the sun was high in the sky. The grassy expanse of the field was unoccupied and the tall grass was up to his waist, it was in need of cutting, swayed in the gentle wind. Today was a warm day and yet the fields were strangely empty. There were no children playing on this fine day and it was unusually quiet now. They both stood on the sidelines of the field where they stood before a steep grassy incline downward that marked the borders of the field all around. It was a depression in the earth with each sides a small hill where people sat on the grass and watched games. There were no benches but there was an abundance of trees on the hills to give cool shade. The two other fields that were in currently being used by a variety of individuals. They had proper benches and drinking fountains, but this particular field which Yayoi and Iori overlooked had no such amenities. It was obvious that it was not as well kept as the other two.

"Kanma and you," Yayoi repeated and became silent. Iori raked his brain for something to say and decided that dancing around it was useless. Yayoi knew about what he was going to do Kanma. What was the point of avoiding the subject if she all ready knew?

"Are you going to stop me or aren't you?" Iori asked abruptly. He had to know now what Yayoi thought and what she was going to do.

"No, there's nothing I can do to stop you from doing anything. If I told Kanma about your plans now, he would attack you and you would hate Kanma more. Nothing changes and not only that you wouldn't like it but if I talk to you and convince you not to continue with your plan... Well you are somewhat more sensible then he is," Yayoi explained with a tired shrug. She let her eyes sweep across the grassy expanse of the field. Iori felt a bit uncomfortable as a strong warm wind hit him from his side and all around him the grass swayed. The sounds of rustling leaves were distant as the trees shook in the wind and then he noticed he was standing in the middle of the playing field. He blinked and wondered what had happened. He could have sworn he was standing on the sidelines between two very large trees. He look around and saw that the field was quite lonely, it was easy to miss because it sank into the earth and the hills around it hide it more. The trees only added to its camouflage and it occurred to Iori that he had found the perfect place to ambush Kanma. It was obviously neglected given the height of the grass and condition of the two goal posts at each end. The trees would block sound and keep it contained in the field, this meant less of a chance of someone taking notice of what was happening. Yayoi was staring up into the sky and the sun glared down blinding Iori almost. He managed to get his hand up to his forehead and shade his eyes.

"So this is where you'll murder him?" Yayoi asked quietly. Iori's brain hit the wall and he was personally insulted now. He had no intention of killing Kanma that would go against everything he felt. The very idea made him very nauseous. Part him resented that Yayoi had asked such a question. Of course he was not going to kill Kanma, he was not a murderer. And what he was going to do was not an execution, it was a punishment.

"No!" Iori answered with a firm voice. It held hurt and disbelief at Yayoi's question. He was also angry and he was wrong again. Here was another person who would judge him. He had hoped desperately that Yayoi would be different.

"So you saying Kanma is a bully and idiot is not mean? Punishment is not for revenge, but to lessen crime and reform the criminal," Yayoi said. Her purple eyes now shifted away from the sky to Iori who fidgeted nervously. He was mentally asking himself how Yayoi possibly know what he was thinking. Was she telepathic or something? No, impossible. He was not living in an anime where people can read other people's mind or three girls disappear from the Tokyo Tower due to ley line activities or similar. There is no way Yayoi read his mind or teleport him into the middle of the field. She simply knew how Iori regarded Kanma and they had somehow walked into the field without noticing. That was it. Yet what if she could? In this world there was supposedly another world filled with fantastical monsters and adventures beyond his imagination. He saw them with his own eyes when he was small. What was there to say that Yayoi could not read his thoughts or teleport? He had seen monsters before!

"I'm not doing this because I want revenge. Someone has got to stop Kanma! How can you defend him like this? He hurt you! I know, I saw in class! He... He..." Iori ranted loudly. He felt very uncomfortable; there was something he should know about Yayoi. Something very important but he could not recall what it was.

"One who is injured ought not to return the injury, for on no account can it be right to do an injustice; and it is not right to return an injury, or to do evil to any man, however much we have suffered from him,"Yayoi stated finally. She looked away from Iori and stared into the blue sky again. Another wind blew and Iori looked at Yayoi as the wind blew her hair. She looked at Iori and raised a green tree leaf up into the air. It had been in her hand for awhile but Iori had never noticed until now. The wind was still blowing and took the leaf up into the air. Iori's eyes followed the path of the leaf; it fluttered and darted with the wind's playing. Up into the blue sky until it flew into the trees on the sidelines of the playing field. The wind stopped blowing and the sky was still. In the distance ominous black clouds were on the horizon and promised rain tonight. When Iori saw the black rain clouds, he looked around in the field to say something to Yayoi but much to his disbelief, she was nowhere to be seen. She was standing only a few feet away from him but now she had disappeared. There was not even a patch of trampled grass to mark the spot where she had been standing.

"Matsudaira-san?" Iori asked to no one and it hung in the air. He felt a dark premonition and shuddered. The wind picked up again and it was cold.

***(Gameworld)***

Kanma was in a bad mood. He didn't know why but he was most definitely in a bad mood for some reason. There was no reason for him to be angry but as he pounded his opponent to death in Tekken 4, the more and more he felt as if he was forgetting something. Something important and it was annoying the hell out of him, yet he could not think or remember the reason. But he did know the three reasons why he should be in a better mood today but was not mysteriously enough.

1. He once again 'convinced' Hirota to lend him some money. In fact Hirota was right next to him playing the opposing fighter and Hirota was paying of course. That should make him happy. It did not really.

2. He once again upstaged Hida 'the demon' Iori in class. How Iori got the nickname 'the demon' was beyond him. Ryota was to blame but Kanma failed to see what made people so afraid of the short, and ugly in his opinion, boy.

3. His father was not coming home tonight. A definite plus, in fact a godsend. Never in Kanma's wildest dreams did he ever imagine his father not coming home for one night. No more shouting about how he should more polite or how he should get higher scores and get into an elite school or being compared to 'that Hida boy'. He didn't have to endure being shouted at while his mother, the worthless and spineless bitch she was, watch without even coming to his defense or trying to argue against his father.

Hwoarang did a lefty grand theft & plasma blade combo on Jin, which sent him flying into a wall. The opponent's life meter was all ready low and so the final attack proved to be the end.

"K.O.!"

Big red words that spelled 'K.O.' appeared on the screen and Kanma did not feel happy. Hirota just wasn't trying to win any more; Kanma never could figure that out either. When was the last time Hirota won at this game against him? Hirota was the game freak out of everyone in the entire class, so why wasn't he kicking his ass all over the screen? Kanma knew Hirota owned Tekken 4 and played it often.

"Hirota are letting me win again?" Kanma asked annoyed. Hirota cringed and tried to disappear by burying his head in his shirt but it didn't work. Kanma got angry and cuffed Hirota. Pain always reminds friends to pay attention, something that Kanma quickly learned over last few years. It especially kept those you value most from ever leaving you, like Yayoi. She wouldn't dare leave him or abandon him; pain was just a remainder that he hadn't forgotten her.

The thought of Yayoi made him pause a moment in his mind. There was something important about Yayoi he should remember about. Kanma quickly however dropped the subject in his mind when he saw Hirota's face turn red with the corner of his eyes' lined with tears.

"I asked you a question!" Kanma roared and slammed his fist onto the control panel while his other hand grasped Hirota around the neckline of the shirt.

"I... have to go home now!" Hirota squeaked. It was true, it was all ready 6 p.m. and Hirota should have been home thirty minutes ago. The others had gone home but Kanma insisted that Hirota stick around for a few rounds at Gameworld and 'convinced' him after awhile. Kanma reluctantly let Hirota go and turned his back on Hirota.

"Fine then but leave a few hundred yen for me will ya? I have to get something to eat at McDonald's," Kanma muttered as he concentrated his attention on the game screen that was starting a new round. 

Hirota sighed and quietly glared at Kanma while he searched for some money. It was fortunate that Iori had paid Hirota so much money today for information, otherwise Hirota would have been broke by now and forced to walk home instead of taking the subway. Whatever Hida had planned for Kanma, it made Hirota's heart soar and bring a smile to his face. But somewhere he felt saddened that it had come to this, that he would betray Kanma. Once, a long time ago it seemed, he and Kanma were friends to a certain degree. They were neighbours since they were born and often played together but then the economic recession in Japan last year started to really pinch everyone and people started losing their jobs. Hirota didn't know what a 'recession' was but his father was sad so often when he came home, he tried and tried to be a good son but sometimes his father just snapped. Luckily his mother was always there to calm his father down. Kanma didn't have that sort of luck it seemed, sometimes at night Hirota could hear shouting from next door and a door opening then the pattering of feet. Hirota knew that it was Kanma running out the door but he never ever came to Hirota's place. Kanma always ran to the Matsudaira's and sometimes stayed over at their place, so in the morning Hirota would come to Yayoi's place to give Kanma some of his spare clothes to wear. Kanma had bruises on him and as this year went on, Kanma just stopped running to Yayoi's place. After he stopped going to the Matsudaira's, Kanma seemed to act worse and worse to everyone. Hirota began to despise Kanma after awhile, he didn't want anything to do with him any more. But when he stopped running to Yayoi's, Kanma just went overboard with everything and Hirota didn't just despise Kanma anymore, he hated him from the bottom of his heart. It was after that 'event' but as Hirota tried to dredge up what that event was, the fuzzier it got. It involved Yayoi somehow but Hirota just couldn't remember. He stood still awhile trying to recall what had happened a year ago but was failing spectacularly. It made his heart ache though and something just touched his soul, something that told him that what had happened was a tragedy that he shouldn't have forgotten.

"Hey! Are you going to stand there or hand over some money all ready?" Kanma snarled as he desperately tried to defeat Kuma in Tekken 4. He was losing to the bear and that was not something that made him happy.

"Okay, okay. Here, there's enough for you;" Hirota answered as he quickly gave Kanma eight hundred yen. He gave Kanma a little more than he intended, he tried to take back a hundred yen coin but Kanma had all ready taken the money away.

"Great, now get lost," Kanma said and then swore when the bear did a suplex on Hwoarang and knocked him out.

"K.O.!"

"SHIT!"

Hirota decided that getting away from Kanma right now was imperative. He ducked into a crowd and headed towards the nearest subway station to get home. He bought a ticket and got into one of the subway cars. When he entered the train he sat down in a seat and waited for the subway to arrive at his stop. The car was not as crowded as he thought it would be and in a few minutes he arrived at his stop. From there he began walking to his apartment, around him the buildings and streets got shabbier and sorrier looking with every block. Finally he arrived at a dilapidated tenement, a relic of the seventies that still stood. There was a notable lack of any sort of natural beauty, there was no trees, grass or flowers and it made the surroundings seem harsher. Man-made and sterile, it was hard to imagine that people lived here in Hirota's mind. He greatly preferred his grandparents farm out in the countryside when compared to his home in Tokyo. Perhaps one day he'd go out and be a farmer but those musing were for another time and another place. He went up and walked past the Daiyama's quiet apartment door and to his own place. There he stood at the door, chipped and marred, that was the opening to his home. Hirota paused and the looked to his right, for right next door was where the Matsudaira's live. There was just something that bugged him about the whole business with Yayoi and such. He went up to the Matsudaira's door and stood there, part of him was indecisive. Even if he did knock on the door and they answered what the hell was he going to say? Hi can I talk to Yayoi? Why do I want to talk to her? Because someone's going to get hurt soon and I want her to know. Hirota twiddled his fingers and then decided he would come by latter to talk to Yayoi. Chances were she was eating dinner and he was hungry as well, so latter he would come by. Much latter, perhaps he'll never come and knock on her door.

Thus Hirota pulled reluctantly away from his neighbour's door and back to his apartment. He never realized or remembered that no one lived next door any more, he had forgotten. The Matsudaira family never returned to their apartment.

***(Nobuto Community Dojo)***

Hida Chikara watched his young grandson, Iori with grave concern. At first he wasn't sure if it was anything major but now as he watched Iori spar with another student, it became obvious that something was bothering him immensely. Iori was losing against his opponent, not because his opponent was more skilled adversary but through careless and thoughtless tactics and moves. Not that anyone aside from him and his two top level students could tell the difference. It genuinely seemed like Iori was doing very well against an older and more experienced student but in truth Iori should have been beating the other to the ground without any effort.

"Sensei? Is something wrong with Hida-kun? Is he sick or something? I mean, he should have defeated Fukuda by now," Ikari Takato asked quietly to his teacher in the sidelines. He was a tall and rather handsome boy of eighteen, which did wonders for female recruitment though Chikara, frowned at the thought that most of them were here for Ikari rather than for kendo. Ikari looked on the match with concern and frowned when Iori failed to follow through with an attack aggressively enough.

"He's being distracted something," Chikara answered and winced when Iori attacked and tried to hit his opponent with a poorly planned blow to the wrist area called the kote. Fukuda managed to sidestep the attack and counter attack by landing a blow to the head called the men. The referee awarded the second and final point to Fukuda then ordered both fighters to bow and leave the ring. Both fighters withdrew and signalled the end of today's class for intermediates. The clock showed that it was 6:10 p.m. exactly and the final cooling down exercises were performed, the sweaty tired students winded down. Another practice had ended and everyone began to pack up and leave for home.

"I'll talk to him, you just get things ready for the advanced classes," Chikara told Ikari. With a nod the teenage boy turned around and get equipment ready.

"Very well sensei," Ikari answered.

"Iori," Chikara called out to his grandson. The boy turned to face his grandfather and paused before walking over to him. Chikara couldn't tell what his grandson was thinking; Iori's face was impassive and gave no clues to what he was thinking. But the deep green eyes told another story; there was a spark of fear and anxiety that was out of place.

"Yes Grandfather?" Iori answered desperately trying to keep out the edginess in his voice and keep it level. He was surprised how successful he was in doing so but his mind raced with other things. Yayoi, Kanma, the abandoned field and his plans for revenge among other things. Yayoi threw everything into doubt because people simply do not disappear into thin air nor do seven year olds act in such an adult like manner. Then again what was he talking about? Did he act his age at all? When was the last time he acted like a child? Even Yayoi pointed out that he didn't act his age. Well right now, he wished desperately that he really were just another seven-year-old child. That way he could act dumb to his grandfather and get away with it. Being serious and responsible had its drawbacks. It made people expect an honest answer or at least a bare minimal explanation.

"You were off today. You should have been able to counter most of the attacks Fukuda threw at you," Chikara explained as he walked towards his grandson. Chikara was a fairly short old man but he was constantly surprised how small his grandson was when he stood over him. Iori was a runt physically when compared to some of his classmates; it was no surprise that he was picked on at times but Iori always managed on his own. It was all ready hard knowing that your family isn't financially secure either. Chikara had sunk his entire retirement money into his grandson's education and well being when Hiroki died. Now he had to teach kendo classes to make more money when he should be winding down and retired but he wasn't bitter. It was just how life went, though he secretly wished that his own father had managed to find some way to retain the family lands after the war from being seized by the Americans in their land distribution reforms, then the Hida family wouldn't be in such bad financial straits. It was hard accepting that your family was once wealthy but its wealth was seized and that your only son is dead, leaving behind a wife and child.

"I know but I was kind of distracted by something," Iori answered honestly. A little omission didn't hurt anyone in his opinion; there was no need to burden his grandfather or mother with any more trouble. A part of him just wanted to admit it to his grandfather that he considered doing something terrible that would make him regret in the future. Then there was that part of him that raged and ranted against the world and its unfairness, that silence was a harmless and easy price to pay.

"Oh? Do you want to talk about it?" Chikara asked in a warm voice. He watched his grandson's reaction carefully and silently asked when it became so difficult to read how Iori felt. His grandson always acted as if everyone was watching him and that he had to be on his best behaviour all the time. It was rather disconcerting knowing that your grandson didn't act anything like a child. Chikara always encouraged him to seek out friends and enjoy his childhood but it was always for naught. 

"Well... Um... It's about this girl in my class; she kind of started talking to me and..." Iori began to babble but silenced himself. He wanted to talk about this to his grandfather but he was not quite sure how to explain the situation. He also knew that how he started his explanation to his grandfather was not the best way to go. It opened the door to a lot of unintended things.

"A girl?" Chikara asked with his eyebrow raised confused. He tried not to draw conclusions with Iori's babbling but he had admitted it was hard not to do.

"Err.. That's not what I intended to sound like," Iori slowly explained as he tried to find a way to get himself out of the hole he dug himself into.

"Oh?"

"Um... What do you do when you know someone is going to do something bad but they won't listen?" Iori asked. He also silently added another bit to his sentence in his head.

'But you may have never really existed at all?'

He spent thirty minutes in the field looking for Yayoi. He was late for his kendo lessons but that hardly mattered. He could not find her any where and that just simply freaked him out. He retraced his steps up and down the field and hills but discovered only one track through the grass. The beaten down grass only showed one person coming to the hill, his own. There was no trail beside it that suggested that another was with him either. It was as if she never existed at all, he even went back to the city area and checked out the electronics' store's people cam that was watching the street. He knew that he and Yayoi had walked passed it earlier and such. He knew the camera was there because it was one of many that he discovered on his route to Subway 20. He managed convince the staff to rewind it back to 3:45 roughly and watched the tape. What he discovered shocked him, he saw himself walking very quickly across the front of the store but there was no one besides him at all. The TV screen clearly showed that he had walked past the store by himself without stopping and that was it. Yayoi was not on the recording at all; it wasn't possible because Iori was one hundred percent sure that Yayoi had walked past this store with him.

"Oh? Is she going to do something that she's going to regret then?" Chikara asked paying his full attention to Iori.

"I don't know... I mean, the guy deserves it. He hurts everyone and I don't know how she can take it any more," Iori explained. He felt like laughing for a moment, he was lying and telling the truth at the same time. Iori wondered if his grandfather suspected that he was actually talking about himself and what he was going to do.

"That's not an excuse to hurt him, you should tell her that," Chikara answered firmly.

"Then what should I tell her then? I mean, he's not going to change unless someone does something," Iori asked earnestly. His grandfather had never gave him advice that was bad.

"Has she told the teacher?" Chikara asked. Iori nodded, the teacher all ready knew the situation with Kanma but it didn't really matter. Suspension and detention only served to make Kanma even more petty and violent afterwards. Nothing short of expulsion could rectify the situation but it would look bad for the school if it were forced to expel one of its students.

"I see what have you done so far to try and stop her?"

"I... talked to her about it."

"And?"

"...."

"You think that he deserves to be hurt don't you?"

"..." Iori shifted uncomfortably under his grandfather's even gaze. He desperately wished for something to interrupt the conversation and luckily for Iori something did interrupt.

"AHH!!!" Ikari screamed as a brown haired girl who had just entered in the dojo literally threw herself at Ikari. She was a blur of white as she landed right on Ikari.

CRASH!

The ground literally shook from the impact and the sounds of horrified gurgling and girlish giggling intermixed with each other.

"Taka-chan! I missed you!" The brown haired girl said gleefully as she hugged Ikari hard. Her slate grey eyes shined with a mischievous glint as Ikari could only shudder in horror. He tried desperately to pry her off but it was all for naught and he could only squirm under her strong grasp. It was rather silly to see since the girl looked like she had a delicate build and Ikari was a head taller and better built as well, thus logic dictates that Ikari should have been able to break free. Looks were however deceiving to the extreme since the girl was a master of Aikido and was a lot stronger than she appeared to be. Iori wondered if Megumi was possibly a distant relative to Gasara Kano in some way or form because he swore he could see a physical resemblance that was positively uncanny.

"AHH!!! Kano let go!" Ikari shouted and blushed heavily when his body reacted to the close proximity of the girl. Kano noticed something poking her and blushed. She immediately jumped off of Ikari and landed a few feet away. A remarkable feat since it happened so quickly and she was originally on top of Ikari. Ikari immediately covered up his lower body and hoped that his hakama's could hide his 'reaction'.

"Gasara-san, how many times do I have to tell you not to do that to Ikari-kun?" Chikara asked wearily. There were times when Gasara's antics entertained him greatly but right now he didn't want to bother with it.

"Sorry," Gasara said and flashed a smile.

"Um, Hida-sensei, class is to begin now. All the students are here," Ikari said as he picked himself off of the floor. He eyed Gasara warily and moved himself to the other side of the class to avoid being tackled again. Chikara looked up and saw that all twenty advanced class students had arrived and were all dressed for their warm up activities.

"All right then. Ikari-san you get them ready... Iori I want to talk to you..." Chikara began but Iori cut him off.

"We'll talk latter grandfather; I should go home and eat something. Besides class is going to start soon," Iori said calmly.

"Are you sure?" Chikara asked. He was hesitant in letting Iori go he needed to know more about what Iori was talking about. Iori simply nodded and picked up his things. Chikara sighed and was mildly disappointed; he had a feeling that Iori would not talk about this again.

'It wasn't as if that conversation was going any where,' Iori thought bitterly. He left the dojo as the students began their stretches. Iori took his gear and headed to the lockers to get changed. Nothing had been resolved and he had almost given his plan away to his grandfather. The temptation to do so was so sweet that Iori was about to bite off his tongue, so he forced himself to remember every single injustice that Kanma had committed to everyone he knew. 

Kanma was the one who had stolen Mizuno Kaho's school supplies. Kanma was the one who had beaten up Hogashi Fuedo for no reason. Kanma was the one who forced him to resort to this. It was Kanma's fault, and Iori would be the one to end this.

The rain was pouring hard and Iori hurried home ignoring the rain. He had much to do. The net had to be set, a garbage bag had to be found and a flashlight needed to be given batteries. His bokken needed only to be hidden and an old pair of shoes would have to be found. Everything was planned, and everything would be soon over. Kanma was in for the lesson of his life. 

The strong maybe strong but they do well to remember that the weak have a strength of their own.

******

Rain was God's way of laughing at Miyako; she just knew it in her heart. It just had to rain today, of all days. Didn't the stupid weatherman claim that it was going to be clear night with warm temperatures and light winds? Clear night with warm temperatures and light winds her ass. It was a storm, hard rain with strong winds that were freezing cold.

Miyako stood inside the entrance of her school and looked across the field and cursed her luck. She had seven books that could not fit in her all ready full backpack and she had nothing else to try and cover them. It was times like these that Miyako wished she wasn't so easily absorbed in anime... But Kero-chan was so cute! Oh, why did CLAMP have to exasperate her addiction to cuteness?

Miyako sighed and made a quiet vow not to go and look up anime websites when she was finally done her after-school computer monitoring and checkups. Next time she would simply walk straight back home and then check out the websites.

"Ahh... it's raining still?" A familiar voice whined, dejected at the prospect of walking home in the rain. Miyako knew it was Daisuke and he was in full sulk mode. It must have been because his little experiment proven to be exceptionally hard to clean up and thus took hours to scrub away. Not only that he would have to clean the classroom up for an entire month. Miyako turned around and waited for the two to come into sight from where she was standing. They were going to help her carry her books home or else.

"I think it's gotten worse actually," Hikari commented as she came into Miyako's view. Daisuke was in tow and was, as expected, sulking to the extreme.

"Great... Not only do I have to clean the classroom up by myself, I have to walk home in the rain as well," Daisuke groused and hung his head in defeat. Muzaki-sensei absolutely refused to foist cleaning duties on Hikari since she wasn't the one who made the mess in her classroom in the first place, thus since it wasn't cleaned up in the expected time, Daisuke would be put on cleaning duty for the class for the next month. His hope of being with Hikari for an entire month cleaning together were dashed completely, if he had known that Muzaki was just going to put him on cleaning detail for the next month by himself, he would have worked more feverishly. Now he would the only thing he could truly indulge in was to walk Hikari home and through the rain no less. Suddenly a fantasy of him and Hikari in the rain together came to his head. They had no umbrella and the cold wind would make Hikari seek the warm confines of his strong arms. Daisuke would hold her and then... and then.

"I know what you mean... Oh, Inoue-san," Hikari said surprised. The bespectacled lavender haired girl was standing in the entrance hall with an overly stuffed backpack and several books in her arms. Daisuke looked up and made a sour face at Miyako. The fantasy was completely utterly wrecked by Miyako's appearance.

"Oh great, she's here..." Daisuke muttered depressed. Miyako face colored and she snapped at Daisuke's muttering which she heard all too well.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Miyako said as she stomped over Daisuke and grabbed by the collar of his shirt. A scared rabbit look entered Daisuke's face and he squirmed under Miyako's angry gaze.

"Daisuke-kun, that wasn't very polite," Hikari said and wondered what to do next since Miyako didn't look all too willing to let Daisuke go from her grip.

"Sorry, I'm sorry..." Daisuke babbled a bit and smiled rather sheepishly.

"Oh, I know a way for you to earn my forgiveness Daisuke...." Miyako began and smiled, her previous anger seemed to be forgotten. Daisuke, however, knew what Miyako wanted him to do, and he was not interested in carrying her books for her. If he were made to carry Miyako's books, he would have to walk to her apartment and then walk Hikari home and then go home as quickly as possible. Sorry, he only wanted to do two out of the three tasks. It was just too cold out to do all three things and besides he was sure that Hikari wanted to go home as quickly as possible.

"I maybe a gentleman, but I'm not doing it," Daisuke said flatly.

"Why do you mean by that! I'm a lady!" Miyako said angrily as she shook Daisuke around, her grip on his collar was impressive.

"You are so not a lady!" Daisuke answered back and regretted it immediately. The Inoue Demon Head (tm) finally came into play. Rage burned in the Miyako's eyes and as Daisuke shrank to small size and she loomed over him. Daisuke swore he could feel the fires of hell burning beside him.

"It's all right Daisuke; I can walk home by myself just fine. Why don't you help Miyako," Hikari said as she finished tying her outdoor shoes on. She headed towards to the exit and left Daisuke with Miyako.

"I'll see you tomorrow at school, Daisuke-kun," Hikari called out as she ran out of the school with full intent on running home as quickly as possible. 

"No, wait Hikari-chan!" Daisuke called out. His voice sounded so pitifully doomed to his fate that Miyako could only laugh. Miyako let Daisuke go at last from her grip.

"It is not funny! Now look what you did!" Daisuke said and glared at Miyako.

"Sorry lover-boy but it's just too much. I guess now wouldn't be the time to mention the fact that her older brother would kill you if he learned about your little crush," Miyako blithely said. She had learned quite a few interesting things from Koushiro today, which was quite strange. Miyako had mentioned Hikari's name and Daisuke's crush at some point in the conversation that they were having as they installed new anti-virus programs. Koushiro's reaction was surprising, when Miyako mentioned it Koushiro eyes widened and he coughed lightly.

"Your friend Daisuke is a dead boy," Koushiro began. He then went into detail of Hikari's older brother Taichi's over protectiveness, they Yagami family's over protectiveness, various individuals over protectiveness whose names were not revealed towards Hikari. There something that Koushiro was simply not telling Miyako but she didn't really pay much attention to that. She still had a hard time trying to reconcile the idea of so many people taking such a vested interest in Yagami Hikari's security. It was rather mind-boggling. What was so special about the girl? Miyako failed to see what was so special and she felt a bit irked by it.

"You mean Taichi? He's cool about it... I think..." Daisuke said as he tried to assemble the pieces that Miyako had said and understand the conversation.

"You think?" Miyako asked with a raised eyebrow that suggested amazement at the rather erroneous assumption.

"Of course! He's my hero! He's good at soccer, people look up to him, the girls like him, ..." Daisuke babbled off in a faraway voice as he listed even more things that he admired. It then occurred to Miyako at that moment that Daisuke's crush might be nothing more than some misguided attempt impress Yagami Taichi, though she didn't know who he was exactly, she got a feeling that Taichi would not be impressed by Daisuke's attempts judging by Koushiro's description.

"In other words Daisuke... He's everything you want to be," Miyako deadpanned. 

"Hey! I'm good at soccer and... and... Well okay, people don't look up to me and the girls might not like me that much," Daisuke muttered mildly embarrassed. Miyako sighed, she didn't bother trying to tell Daisuke that he was going about the hero worship thing entirely in the wrong way. Unfortunately, given how stubborn and optimistic Daisuke was, she doubted that telling him would do anything. 

Daisuke was the type who will insist on running at full speed in the school's hallway until he crashed into something and then he wises up. This, however, doesn't exactly stop Daisuke from running at full speed elsewhere, it just means he won't run in school hallways any more because he knows better but he'll just run at full speed in other places until something happened. Hopefully Daisuke won't hurt himself too badly but it was just too much to hope for at times.

"Here Daisuke," Miyako said as she passed Daisuke the books to put in his backpack.

"Do I have to?"

Daisuke looked utterly unimpressed and looked at the offending books that Miyako had given him with mild distaste.

"Yes you do!" Miyako insisted loudly.

"Why!?"

"Because then I won't give you any more chocolate bars."

"You never give me chocolate bars..."

"What are you talking about? I gave that Crunchie bar for free last week!"

With that Miyako grabbed Daisuke's ear and pulled hard. The pain from his ear was too much and Daisuke winced.

"OW!!! Stop pulling on my ear! I remember! I remember!"

"Good..." Miyako muttered as she let go of Daisuke's ear. Without further complaint Daisuke put the books into his mostly empty backpack. And then they left the school and into the rain.


End file.
